Introduction

Some memories stay with you long after you leave the place where they were created.

For Yogesh Tyagi, it was the image of his village in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, fields stretching across the horizon, food prepared slowly at home, oil extracted traditionally, and a community that understood the rhythm of nature.

It was a world where food was not just something you consumed. It was something you witnessed being created.

Years later, when Yogesh looked back at those memories, he realised they held an answer to a question that had troubled him for years: what happened to the relationship between people and their food?

Growing up, Yogesh saw farmers work tirelessly through every season. They nurtured the land and grew food that fed countless families, yet many struggled to earn a comfortable livelihood.

But there was one thing that stood out.

Despite limited resources, people in his village were healthier. Their food was simple, fresh, and close to its source. Oils were pressed locally, grains came straight from farms, and every ingredient carried a sense of authenticity.

That memory became the foundation of a vision that would eventually become Gyros Organic Farms.

The Question That Changed Everything

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Yogesh followed a path many would consider successful.

After completing his B.Tech, he cleared the GATE Examination and joined. Later, he was selected for the Shipping Corporation of India. Still, something felt incomplete.

His passion was always teaching.

In 2014, he began teaching students preparing for GATE and Engineering Services. From travelling between cities for offline classes to teaching thousands online on platforms like Unacademy, Yogesh built a career around education.

He was respected, financially secure, and had reached a place many aspire to.

But sometimes, purpose arrives disguised as a question.

During the early months of COVID-19, while interacting with his students, Yogesh noticed something disturbing. Conversations were no longer just about classes or exams. Students spoke about illnesses in their families, health struggles, and uncertainties.

That made him look deeper.

He compared two realities: the village he came from and the cities his students lived in.

In his village, people who consumed traditional food continued to maintain relatively better health. Meanwhile, urban India was witnessing a rise in lifestyle diseases, diabetes, cardiovascular issues, and other health challenges.

Yogesh started researching.

What began as curiosity became months of studying food systems, health patterns, and changing consumption habits.

The more he discovered, the clearer one thing became: the problem was not just what people ate. It was how their food was produced.

When Food Lost Its Connection With Nature

Along with his wife Richa, Yogesh began exploring the journey of everyday ingredients.

They studied research papers, spoke with people battling illnesses, and questioned a system that had gradually changed how India consumed food.

They noticed a major shift.

Traditional processes that once prioritised patience and quality were slowly replaced by industrial methods designed for speed and scale.

The same foods that had been part of Indian kitchens for generations were now heavily processed, refined, and manufactured far from their original sources.

“The slower the process of making food, the better it is for taste and health. If food is made fast or in bulk, that is a warning sign,” Yogesh believes.

For him, the answer was not creating something new.

It was returning to something forgotten.

Reviving The Wisdom Of The Past

When Yogesh and Richa explored the market, they realised finding truly traditional food was harder than they imagined.

They tried different oils, ghee, and organic products available in the market. While many brands claimed purity, the experience often lacked the authenticity they remembered from childhood.

The aroma was missing. The taste was missing. The connection was missing.

That became the turning point.

In August 2022, Yogesh and Richa started Gyros Organic Farms with one simple belief: food should be honest.

They began with oils because they were among the most commonly used yet misunderstood ingredients in Indian households.

Instead of following modern extraction methods, they went back centuries.

Yogesh travelled to Tamil Nadu to understand traditional stone extraction methods. He spent days studying how oil was once extracted from seeds using stone chakkis, slowly, patiently, and without disturbing the seeds’ natural qualities.

“We didn’t want to reinvent the process. We wanted to revive it,” he says.

The first stone extraction unit was established in Bhiwani, Haryana.

The process was slower. The production was smaller. But the oil was exactly what they wanted: natural, pure, and connected to its roots.

A Different Way To Scale

For Gyros, growth was never about building the biggest factory.

Yogesh believed that the traditional way of making food and large-scale factory production could not coexist.

Instead, the team created a micro-unit model.

Rather than creating one centralised manufacturing facility, Gyros partnered with farmers and installed small extraction units closer to the source.

The idea was simple: empower farmers to become entrepreneurs.

Farmers were trained, supported, and given resources to produce in small batches. This allowed Gyros to maintain quality while creating year-round income opportunities for farming communities.

“We don’t buy seeds from farmers. We make them business partners. That’s the difference,” says Yogesh.

Today, Gyros works with multiple micro-units across India, connecting regional produce with consumers while ensuring transparency at every step.

The farmer earns better. The consumer receives cleaner food. And the entire ecosystem becomes stronger.

Beyond Oils

The Search For Honest Food. When customers began asking for ghee, Yogesh knew it had to follow the same philosophy.

He did not want to build another commercial dairy operation.

Instead, Gyros partnered with women farmers in Bijouli village, Uttar Pradesh.

Here, women like Sanno Sachan care for their cows and buffaloes at home. The milk is collected locally, and ghee is prepared using traditional methods.

The process takes time.

That is exactly the point.

Every batch is made with patience, care, and respect for tradition.

For Yogesh, purity is not just a product promise.

It is a responsibility.

Three Stories, One Mission

Gyros’ journey is also shaped by the people who joined the mission.

Aakash, who comes from an agricultural background, witnessed the struggles farmers faced due to declining soil health and unpredictable incomes. His work in organic farming connected him with Yogesh, bringing together two sides of the same challenge: the farm and the consumer.

Aditya’s journey came from a deeply personal place.

After losing his father to cancer despite a simple lifestyle, Aditya began questioning the role of food in modern health challenges. That search led him to understanding food systems, branding, and entrepreneurship.

When he met Yogesh, he realised they shared the same purpose.

For him, Gyros was not just a business opportunity.

It was a mission.

A Brand That Wants To Bring People Back To Their Centre

The name Gyros comes from the gyroscope, a device that always returns to its axis, no matter how much it moves.

That philosophy defines the brand.

Gyros believes that even after years of processed foods and changing lifestyles, people can return to a natural relationship with what they consume.

The brand is not trying to create hundreds of products overnight.

It focuses on doing a few things with complete honesty: traditional oils, ghee, spices, and natural foods that respect both the farmer and the consumer.

For Yogesh, the dream is simple.

When people hear Gyros, he wants them to think of one word:

Purity.

Not packaging. Not marketing.

Just trust.

Because at its heart, Gyros is not only bringing back traditional food practices.

It is bringing back a forgotten relationship,  the one between the farmer, the food, and the person sitting at the dining table.

-By Muskan Dengra