The Tiny Food Project: Alibag, aims to facilitate skill-building for women in the coastal village of Narangi, resulting in a model of women-led entrepreneurship. This is a collaboration between Tiny Miracles and The Locavore.
Founded in 2010 by Laurien Meuter, Tiny Miracles works in and around Mumbai, India to provide economic autonomy to women from vulnerable communities by providing them with training and employment opportunities.
Tiny Miracles focuses on connecting the two ends of a value-chain. Firstly, it provides skill-training to underserved, unskilled individuals by creating jobs for them. Through these jobs, the workers make products for large brands at above-market wages. Secondly, Tiny Miracles partners with brands that value such commitment and engagement with communities, thereby giving consumers a chance to contribute toward making a small change.
Initially working with about 80 families from the Pardeshi community—largely migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar—Tiny Miracles’ work has now grown to encompass 18 communities that struggle with poverty, like the Katkari and Warli tribes in Aarey, Mumbai, or members of the Pardhi community, who have historically been stigmatised as a criminal tribe since the British occupation of India.
In 2024, Tiny Miracles created over 700 full-time jobs in and around Mumbai, trained over 500 women in employable skills, and increased their partner network to 20 organisations that buy directly from them. These women make products such as paper vase covers, tassels, and reusable bags for brands such as the Dutch National Rijksmuseum and Rituals Cosmetics.
“We’re exploring how culinary expertise and branding can turn what’s already excellent into something commercially viable. Can marketing be social impact? Can a chef’s palate create pathways out of poverty without calling it ‘poverty alleviation’?
That’s the goal. Not bags. Not charity. Just women with agency, customers who care, and really good food in between. Will it work? Ask us in a year.”
— Siddhartha Menon, Head of Mission, Tiny Miracles
Women in Narangi, too, stitched bags for Tiny Miracles at one point, but through this Project, Tiny Miracles and The Locavore want to collaborate to see how these women’s livelihoods can become more linked with their environment, and how they can run their own food businesses. Because they grow incredible produce, and make pickles and curries that can make tastebuds soar.
But there’s no market for it, no branding, and no pathway from their kitchens to customers and markets who’d pay them what their effort is actually worth.
What if great food, done right, could create economic independence?
This is where Tiny Miracles and The Locavore explore what’s possible: perhaps it’s artisanal products for Mumbai, perhaps home-style meals for tourists. Neither organisation fully knows yet, but through this experiment, where culinary expertise meets community wisdom, we are hoping to find out what happens when women who have been making things for others start making things for themselves. What if great food, done right, could create economic independence?
If this works in Narangi, it could be scaled further, by creating Tiny Food initiatives in other communities. Different produce, different cuisines, but the same model—women-led businesses that don’t need us in the room.
Outcomes
- Identify and conduct trials of viable food products or food services that will be decided in consultation with the community.
- Produce small batches of these products within individual home kitchens.
- Build capacity within the community to standardise the trial recipes, ensure food hygiene, and come up with a viable economic model for these products.
- Develop a roadmap for accessing small-scale markets or commercial kitchens in Alibag and Mumbai, and build long-term partnerships with them to ensure continued employment for the women self-help groups that are part of the trial.
“At The Locavore, success with the ‘The Tiny Food Project: Alibag’ would be seeing these women take new steps into food entrepreneurship with confidence, rooted in their own ingredients and skills. That sense of agency and ownership is what we’re really hoping to build.”
— Thomas Zacharias, Chef & Founder, The Locavore
Work with Us
As we begin this pilot, we are hoping to put together a team of people who are excited to bring this project to life. We are looking for:
Project Lead: You will oversee the on-ground planning, facilitation, and coordination of the project. You will serve as the primary link between the community participants, the Tiny Miracles’ local team, and The Locavore. You will guide the project from research and immersion to product trials and launch, while ensuring clear documentation and timely delivery of outputs.
Field Research Volunteer: You will support the Project Lead in conducting field research, documentation, and coordination for The Tiny Food Project: Alibag. You will work closely with the community, helping capture stories, document food practices, assist in workshops, and maintain qualitative records throughout the project’s phases. This is a hands-on, learning-oriented role ideal for someone interested in fieldwork, local food systems, and community research.
Culinary Research Volunteer: You will support the Project Lead in research, testing, and documentation of community-based food products. You will work closely with the participating women to observe, record, and refine local recipes, ingredients, and processes while helping ensure that traditional knowledge and culinary heritage are preserved and celebrated.
The Tiny Food Project: Alibag is a social impact initiative led by The Locavore in partnership with Tiny Miracles, supporting women from the Narangi community to build food-based livelihoods rooted in local culture and collective strength.
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