Our Team

Our founders, mentors, advisory board and industry experts — the people who build, teach and shape Foodtech Pathshala.

Mr. Nilesh Lele

Mr. Nilesh Lele

Co-Founder

Food Tech Pathshala

Founder MentorsFounders
20+ Trained 10k+

A serial food-technology entrepreneur and MSME mentor with 20+ years across India and the USA. He founded Exelon Foodbio Advisors and co-founded FoodTech Pathshala. A chemical engineer (ICT/UDCT) with a US MS & MBA and CFA & FRM charters, he mentors food, beverage and agri startups and serves as Vice President of AFST(I).

Worked with

Dr. Umesh Kamble

Dr. Umesh Kamble

Co-Founder

Food Tech Pathshala

Founder MentorsFounders
20+ Trained 10k+

A food technocrat and first-generation entrepreneur with 15 years in food processing, licensing and food-safety training. Through Farm To Fork Solutions he has trained 8,000+ food-safety supervisors, and he is a Vice President of AFST(I) and a 2023 AFSTI-FSSAI National Award honoree.

Worked with

Yash Rajani

Yash Rajani

Founder, Karma Logistical Services (KLS)

Karma Logistical Services (KLS)

Mentor Mentors
10+

A passionate supply chain professional that wants to see more Indian brands kill it overseas. I have warehouses in USA, Canada, Dubai, UK and Netherlands that have helped launch several Indian businesses in overseas markets.

Hemendra Mhatre

Hemendra Mhatre

Walmart Vriddhi

Walmart Vriddhi

Mentor Mentors
10+

Experienced partnerships, product, and business development professional with 12+ years of experience across fintech, e-commerce, hospitality, and digital payments. Currently working with I2I Foundation on the Walmart Vriddhi Project, driving MSME enablement through onboarding, ecosystem partnerships, and capacity-building initiatives.

Dr. Sagar Gokhale

Dr. Sagar Gokhale

Senior Scientist - R&D

General Mills (USA)

Mentor Mentors

A food engineer and senior R&D scientist at General Mills, with a doctorate in food engineering & technology from ICT Mumbai. His work spans food processing, mathematical modelling and Indian traditional foods, and he co-founded the beverage startup Ojman FoodBio.

Worked with

Kaushik Bhatt

Kaushik Bhatt

Sales and Marketing Consultant

Mentor Mentors

Seasoned business and sales consultant with 23+ years of experience across FMCG, retail, distribution, trade marketing, brand activation, and channel development. Combines deep corporate grounding with entrepreneurial execution to help organizations improve go-to-market strategy, sales effectiveness, trade visibility, distribution reach, and commercial performance.

Worked with

Mr. Sanjeev Sharma

Mr. Sanjeev Sharma

Food R&D Expert, Author & Co-founder

FoodTech Pathshala

Mentor Mentors

A food R&D specialist and bestselling author with 14+ years in multinational food-industry R&D. He co-founded FoodTech Pathshala and has written several widely used food-science reference and exam-prep books.

Worked with

Mr. Ritesh Mathur

Mr. Ritesh Mathur

Founder

F2F Food & Beverage Consultants

Mentor Mentors

A food technologist with 20+ years in R&D, new product development, food safety and QA across the food and QSR industry. With an M.Tech from UDCT (ICT) Mumbai and an MBA from NMIMS, he founded F2F Food & Beverage Consultants, offering end-to-end consulting with a focus on cafes and quick-service restaurants.

Worked with

Ms. Subha Nishtala

Ms. Subha Nishtala

Founder - Food Safety Consultant & Trainer

Food Adroit

Mentor Mentors

A food technologist focused on food safety, standards and regulatory compliance. Through her consultancy Food Adroit she advises and trains food businesses, with FSSAI-aligned training and well-regarded sessions on FSS regulations and food-recall best practices.

Worked with

Ms. Bhagyashri Mhatre

Ms. Bhagyashri Mhatre

Founder

Food Monk Consultants LLP

Mentor Mentors

A food technologist and food-safety consultant with 15+ years of experience. She founded Food Monk Consultants (Pune) and is a certified auditor and trainer across leading food-safety standards, also serving as Honorary Director of Food Technologies at Englobal Chambers of Commerce & Industries.

Worked with

Mr. Kaushal Dongare

Mr. Kaushal Dongare

Founder

Paawak (Jaggery Brand)

Mentor Mentors

An entrepreneur on a mission to move consumers from refined sugar back to traditional jaggery. He founded the 'Paawak' jaggery brand with the vision of building it into a global name in jaggery and jaggery-based products.

Mr. Vikas Patil

Mr. Vikas Patil

Food-Ingredients & Plant-Based Foods Professional

Mentor Mentors

A food-ingredients and FMCG professional with expertise in marketing, sourcing, new product development and FSSAI compliance. A Dairy Technology graduate (B.Tech) with a PGDBM in Marketing, he works across the food-ingredient and plant-based foods space.

Worked with

Mr. Ajit Kasar

Mr. Ajit Kasar

Food & FMCG Sales, Marketing & Distribution Consultant

Mentor Mentors

A sales-and-marketing professional with 25+ years across leading food/FMCG companies, now an independent consultant (since 2016) helping brands with distribution-channel set-up, modern-trade launches and brand activation.

Worked with

Mr. Prashant Naigaonkar

Mr. Prashant Naigaonkar

Founder - SME Finance Advisor

RampUp Advisory LLP

Mentor Mentors

A finance professional with 30+ years in corporate finance, fund-raising and treasury, now helping SMEs become 'funding-ready'. With a Master of Financial Management (NMIMS) and a background spanning IPOs, private placements and treasury, he founded RampUp Advisory LLP.

Worked with

Prof. Smita Lele

Prof. Smita Lele

Emeritus Professor of Eminence

ICT Mumbai

Advisor Advisory Board

A veteran food technologist with 40+ years in food science, Prof. Smita Lele specialises in fruit & vegetable processing, fermentation and food-process development. Emeritus Professor of Eminence at ICT Mumbai and former Director of its Marathwada campus, she is among India's most prolific food-science researchers and academic mentors.

Worked with

Prof. (Dr.) Pramod K. Raghav

Prof. (Dr.) Pramod K. Raghav

Pro-VC · Food-Technology Academic

Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women's University, Jaipur

Advisor Advisory Board

A food-technology and agricultural-processing academic with 19+ post-PhD years of experience. With a B.Tech from GB Pant University, M.Tech and PhD in Agriculture Processing from PAU Ludhiana, and US food-industry experience, he leads academics as Pro-VC at Jayoti Vidyapeeth Women's University.

Worked with

Prof. (Dr.) Prakash Kondekar

Prof. (Dr.) Prakash Kondekar

Hon. Director

Indian Institute of Naturopathy, Mumbai

Advisor Advisory Board

A veteran academic and naturopathy practitioner whose qualifications span homeopathy, naturopathy and Ayurveda, with a Royal Society of Health (London) fellowship. After agro-industry roles (1970-95), he has spent decades in academia and practice, lecturing and running health-management workshops across four continents.

Worked with

Dr. Prabodh Halde

Dr. Prabodh Halde

Head - Global Regulatory, Public Policy & Advocacy

Marico Ltd.

Advisor Advisory Board

One of India's foremost food-regulatory and public-policy experts, with around 30 years of industry experience. He heads Global Regulatory, Public Policy & Advocacy at Marico Ltd., has represented India eight times at the Codex Alimentarius, is a past national President of AFST(I), and has authored 16 books including the bestseller 'Accidental Food Technologist'.

Worked with

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