Founder Spotlight: Aditi Luthra (Pitara Co)
Meet Aditi Luthra:
Wildlife-friendly coffee grown in lush nature & wildlife reserves in South India (including a Tiger reserve!) by indigenous communities.
Location:
New York, New York, USA + Princeton, New Jersey, USA
When did you launch the business?
2025
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Startup Stage?
Bootstrapped
What led you to where you are today?
My mom & I had a heart-to-heart about our purpose that led to Pitara. We wanted to source unique products from exclusively small businesses and farms all over South Asia. On our first sourcing trip to India, we met coffee farmer collectives that made us feel passionate about starting with coffee.
What do you wish you knew before embarking on your entrepreneurial journey?
I wish I knew that I’d learn most by entering the market and beginning to sell. I wish I had started pre-orders earlier to test my assumptions. I also wish I’d invested less in the initial branding work and more in social media.
What is the most difficult decision you've had to make regarding your business so far?
Deciding to continue despite India (the source of our coffee) tariffs being one of the highest amongst coffee-growing regions. Given our ethics around sourcing from collectives paying farmers at least 1.2X the market rate, it’s not possible to offer the coffee at market prices if tariffs continue at this level. We were lucky to import the coffee for our soft-launchat a 10% tariff, missing the new 50% tariffs by a hair.
What can you help the VEGPRENEUR community with?
Navigating India’s export & USA import processes
How can the VEGPRENEUR community help you?
Retailer & pop-up connections and friendship 🤍
Fun fact about you:
I was in an improv troupe in high school!
Anything else you would like to share?
Only an estimated 24% of coffee globally is grown under the shade of trees (the most climate-friendly way of growing coffee)
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