The Real Story Behind Gyros: Farmers, Clean Food & Entrepreneurship | What The Food

What happens when you leave a ₹1 crore career to build something with a deeper purpose? In this episode of What The Food, we sit down with Yogesh Tyagi, founder of Gyros, to talk about his journey from engineering and teaching to building a clean-label food business working closely with farmers. Yogesh has experienced two very different worlds — the fast-paced life of a Tier-1 city and the slower, deeply rooted life of rural India. His journey is about more than just starting a company. It is about connecting farmers, consumers and food in a way that brings traditional practices closer to modern households. In this conversation, we talk about: 🌱 Why Yogesh left a high-paying career 👨‍🌾 His connection with farming and rural India 🏙️ The difference between urban and rural aspirations 🥛 Why traditional food-making processes inspired Gyros 🧑‍🌾 Working with 500+ farmers 🍯 The philosophy behind clean-label food 🎓 His journey from engineering to teaching more than 1 million students 🚀 The challenges of building a startup from scratch 💰 His early financial struggles as an entrepreneur 📈 Raising investment and scaling a food brand ❌ A business decision he wishes he had approached differently 🔥 His advice for aspiring entrepreneurs 💡 Why taking calculated risks is part of the entrepreneurial journey One of the most interesting parts of the conversation is Yogesh's story of continuing to build despite moments when even basic things became difficult — including a time when he couldn't afford to repair a punctured car tyre while building his business. His core message is simple: If you believe in something, be prepared for the friction that comes with starting. Watch the complete conversation and discover the person, purpose and journey behind the brand. ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – Introduction 00:54 – Meeting Yogesh Tyagi 01:08 – Does he regret leaving a ₹1 crore job? 01:35 – Farmers vs. urban life 03:37 – Why agriculture? Why clean-label food? 04:48 – Growing up in a farmer family 06:27 – The problem with farmer livelihoods 07:02 – From engineering to teaching 07:33 – Connecting India's cities and villages 07:45 – How Gyros maintains product quality 08:07 – Traditional methods of making oil & ghee 08:40 – Biggest lessons from entrepreneurship 09:07 – Why Yogesh rejected conventional career paths 09:25 – GATE Rank 176 & multiple opportunities 10:28 – Turning down a government-sector career 11:43 – Entering the education industry 12:20 – Taking education online 13:28 – Learning entrepreneurship without a support system 13:41 – Starting his company 14:19 – Lessons around compliance & company structure 15:22 – Building Gyros 15:39 – A business decision he would change 15:54 – Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs 16:25 – Is there an age limit for entrepreneurship? 17:24 – The friction of starting a startup 17:47 – The punctured-tyre story 18:26 – Investment & growth 18:48 – Risk, reward & resilience 19:11 – Final takeaways 20:04 – End