Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | April 29, 2019 | wbjournal.com S M A L L B U S I N E S S F OC U S e coming Monsoon Swati Elavia has been singled out by the Small Business Administration for her company's potential growth BY ZACHARY COMEAU Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer T his year could be big for Swati Elavia and Monsoon Kitchens as her company zeros in on a new sales record. Based in Shrewsbury, the wholesale producer of mostly vegetarian Indian food expects to find its way into all major supermar- ket chains as it continues to find a home in thou- sands of college, hospital and corporate cafeterias. Already this year, Elavia was named the Small Business Person of the Year for Massachusetts by the U.S. Small Business Administration. "Given the trends taking place with demographics, I think she has a lot of potential," said SBA Massachusetts District Director Robert Nelson, looking specifically at shiing consumer trends calling for the more vegetarian-friendly food. Elavia, an India native who moved to the U.S. in 1982, completed the SBA's inaugural Emerging Leaders Initiative in Worcester this year as Monsoon launched a new line of retail products. e company has samosas and other quick-bite appetizers – and even some full meals like chicken tikka masala – ready to hit the shelves of U.S. grocery stores. Monsoon has products placed in 15 New York-area Fairway Market stores, finalizing that first order on April 10. e company is closing deals with much larger supermarkets, which Elavia didn't want to name until the agreements are signed. "en we will go to everybody – the Whole Foods of the world and Stop & Shop," she said. With these agreements and its already steady contracts with cafeteria food providers, Monsoon could break the $5-million mark in sales this year. "We are really hoping this year that we'll hit it and come in at least 20% to 30% higher," Elavia said. A food specialist Elavia's career began in food, although in a much different capacity. In the 1990s, she was a nutrition specialist at cereal and branded food manufacturer General Mills in Minneapolis. In a role not at all consumer-facing, she was responsible for product labeling and staying up to date on nutrition research and food science to make sure products were healthy. When her husband landed a finance job in Boston in 1999, the family, with three young daughters, moved to New England. "at was a perfect time for me," she said. Most of the nutritionist jobs in the Boston area were in hospital settings, but Elavia opted instead to chart her own path. She first began experimenting and then selling spice blends under a different name, but she soon saw the demand for Indian appetizers. In 2003, she found a local Indian restaurant in Cambridge, Masala Art, which partnered with her to produce her first-ever samosas. us Monsoon Kitchens was born. Its first account was international financial institution World Bank in Washington, D.C., which served her food in its cafeteria. Star of the program Monsoon kept growing until a production center in Somerville allowed Elavia to experiment and introduce more products, leading to the company finding a niche in college and university cafeterias. "Everyone said college is where you should go," Elavia recalls. "Students love trying new stuff." e company's first college account was Harvard University in Cambridge, which has a diverse student Swati Elavia founded Monsoon Kitchens a couple of years after her family moved to Greater Boston. PHOTO/EDD COTE

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