Indian Founder of Janata Sweets Prashanth Ankadavar Discusses Growing a Local Gokak Delicacy Into a National Brand With RawScribe

The story of Janata Sweets begins with just ten kilograms of a traditional Gokak delicacy. Today the brand operates ten distinct stores across the city and supplies its signature Karadant to every India Sweet House location in the country. Prashanth built this business by taking a famous regional recipe and rethinking how modern customers actually want to eat it. His team introduced convenient sliced packaging and eventually expanded the daily menu to include fresh bread, cookies and cakes. But the core of the operation remains a deeply personal family effort. His father manages the finances while his mother and wife oversee an entirely female production staff. RawScribe recently spoke with the entrepreneur to discuss his ambitious expansion plans and why an ancient recipe still commands massive corporate orders.

RawScribe: You started with a very small batch of Gokak Karadant and have now grown to ten stores including five successful franchises. How do you plan to scale this operation to a hundred locations over the next five years without losing the homemade quality of your sweets?

Prashanth: Everything comes down to finding the right balance between modern machinery and traditional methods. We have heavily invested in the latest manufacturing technology to maximize our daily production and maintain total consistency. But the soul of the business remains unchanged. We recently expanded our menu to include everyday bakery items like fresh bread, rusk and donuts to bring customers in daily. Yet our main focus is taking the authentic Karadant beyond our local borders. We already supply all the India Sweet House stores and our next move involves international markets and partnerships with airline caterers.

RawScribe: Modern consumers are increasingly cautious about eating traditional sweets due to processed sugar. How does your Karadant fit into this health conscious market and what led to massive corporate purchases like the twelve hundred kilogram order you received from Hero Honda?

Prashanth: People are definitely eating differently today but our product is fundamentally a health food. We never use empty calories or processed sugars. The Karadant is made entirely of jaggery, edible gums, sesame seeds and premium dry fruits. It is packed with natural energy and nutrition. In fact it is highly recommended for lactating mothers because the specific ingredients help relieve back pain and speed up postpartum recovery. It is healthy for children and the elderly alike. That nutritional value is exactly why massive companies trust us for corporate gifting. Completing that twelve hundred kilogram order for Hero Honda during Dussehra proved that our traditional recipe can compete on a massive commercial scale.

RawScribe: Running a growing food brand usually requires a massive corporate hierarchy. How does your family manage the daily operations and what inspired the decision to run your manufacturing floor exclusively with female employees?

Prashanth: We keep the structure incredibly simple and rely entirely on family trust. I handle all the marketing and expansion strategies while my father Shankar manages every aspect of the finances. My mother Prema and my wife Pallavi take complete charge of the manufacturing floor. They oversee our entire production team which is made up exclusively of women. We made that choice deliberately to support female empowerment and create real financial independence for families in our community. These women bring an incredible level of dedication to the kitchen. They ensure that every single sweet leaving our facility meets the exact standards my family established on day one.

RawScribe: The traditional sweet market can be very resistant to change. Yet one of your most successful business moves was simply slicing the Karadant for convenient packaging. How do you decide when to modernize a product and when to leave the tradition exactly as it is?

Prashanth: Innovation does not always mean changing a core recipe. Sometimes it just means paying close attention to how people actually consume food today. We realized our customers wanted an easy way to enjoy the sweet without the mess of breaking apart a large traditional block. Slicing the product made it highly accessible and convenient for a modern lifestyle. We prioritize clear communication with our buyers above everything else. By listening directly to their feedback we can easily adapt the packaging and presentation while keeping the original ingredients completely intact.

RawScribe: Mass production usually leads to a much larger environmental footprint. As you prepare to expand into international markets and secure partnerships with major airlines how are you ensuring that your manufacturing process remains sustainable?

Prashanth: A business cannot measure its success solely by financial gains. We have a clear responsibility to the environment and to our community. We actively integrate eco friendly practices across our daily operations to ensure our products leave a minimal footprint on the planet. As we upgrade our machinery to handle larger production volumes we are also making sure that our facility operates efficiently without wasting natural resources. Sustainability is a permanent commitment for us and we fully intend to maintain those strict environmental standards as we scale the brand globally.

RawScribe: You are running a rapidly expanding retail company where your parents and your wife serve as your primary management team. How do you prevent the stress of daily business growth from taking over your personal life and what advice do you offer to other new founders?

Prashanth: Setting firm boundaries is the only way a family business works. I follow a strict daily schedule where I dedicate my complete attention to the operations from half past eight in the morning until seven in the evening. Once that workday ends the evenings are entirely reserved for my family. That daily separation is absolutely vital. My advice to any aspiring entrepreneur is to simply trust yourself because deep self belief opens doors that otherwise seem closed. Stay resilient and focus entirely on the satisfaction of your customers because their trust is the only true foundation for long term success.