Tehmina Chaudhry
Our elite member, Tehmina A. Chaudhry, is a successful social entrepreneur from Pakistan who used Canada’s startup visa to grow her business. She is the founder and managing director of INSTAfoods Limited, Canada. It is a social enterprise that promotes food sustainability. Food waste is a global problem, and she’s determined to put an end to it. The primary goal of INSTAfoods is to convert perishable food items into 100% natural, edible, high-quality vegan foods.
Chaudhry started her business in 2011 with her husband. At the time, she had no manufacturing experience, so she started small in a rented place. However, she made very substantial progress in just two years, and she was able to expand very quickly.
Later, she acquired land for building the factory. She gave a 6 month notice period to the landlord as she had to move out of the rental place. It was supposed to be completed within a year, but the plan fell through, so she had to leave the rented place. Her facility factory was not ready and it was a huge problem as she had to manage purchase orders. It was a difficult time because she was not able to produce anything for 5-6 months.
However, Tehmina Chaudhry learned a valuable lesson, and instead of making excuses, she remained transparent with her employees and clients. She communicated well with them, asked for extensions, and explained everything that was going on.
During that time, she learned that everything requires planning, so if your plan A does not work, then you should have a plan B.
When she started INSTAfoods, she took three months to name INSTAfoods because she wanted it to be a trusted and global brand. Even though, she didn’t know she would be in Canada one day, now she is and continues to grow. Chaudhry aims to grow more and make INSTAfoods a global brand. Throughout the journey, her husband became a strong support system for her to make this happen.
INSTAfoods offers a unique range of natural plant-based products ranging from green spices, recipes mixes, wellness foods, and fruits & vegetable powders.
Long story short, Chaudhry got an opportunity and applied for a Canada’s startup visa program. She got selected and moved to Canada to pursue her dream. Canada’s startup visa program targets immigrant entrepreneurs with the skills and potential to build businesses in Canada. Business startups should be innovative, can create jobs for Canadians, and can compete on a global level.
She is a passionate entrepreneur and aims to help new startups establish their presence in Canada.
Last but not least, Tehmina Chaudhry is also working on two other ventures. The first one is INSTA Startups. Through this business consultancy agency, she offers various services including startup mentoring & coaching, startup immigration visa process, startup business consultancy, MVP development, business plan development, market research & validation, and women mentoring & coaching. Another one is a mobile app named AIM Halal which aims to be the one-stop solution for all Halal needs for Muslims.
CAIC is pleased to announce Tehmina A. Chaudhry as our elite member. We look forward to her contributions and hope that she will inspire us by adding great value to our community.
