Mira Mehta, co-founder and CEO of Tomato Jos in Nigeria, has been named to Bloomberg New Economy’s 2025 “Catalyst” class — a distinguished group of entrepreneurs, scientists, and innovators shaping a more resilient and inclusive global future.
Her inclusion recognizes her work transforming the tomato supply chain in West Africa. Through Tomato Jos, Mehta has created a sustainable agribusiness model that partners with small-holder farmers to improve how tomatoes are grown, processed, and delivered. The company tackles long-standing issues in tropical agriculture such as perishability, inefficiency, and the exclusion of smaller producers.
Mehta’s approach reimagines agriculture as a space for innovation and inclusion, ensuring that growth and opportunity reach those at the foundation of the food system. Her recognition by Bloomberg New Economy places her among a global community of changemakers working to rethink how economies function and who benefits from them.
For readers of Parsi Khabar, Mehta’s achievement is especially inspiring. It shows how an Indian-origin entrepreneur, through persistence and purpose, can build bridges across continents and industries — turning social impact into scalable, sustainable business. Her story reminds us that innovation grounded in empathy and inclusion doesn’t just feed markets; it nourishes communities and builds stronger futures.
About Mira Mehta
Mira Mehta is co-Founder and CEO of Tomato Jos – a fully integrated farming and processing agribusiness in Northern Nigeria that produces tomato paste and other agricultural products for the domestic market. Before founding Tomato Jos, Miss Mehta worked in the financial services and healthcare sectors in New York and Nigeria, respectively, where she gained valuable technical skills, developed an empathetic worldview, and built a strong network that would empower her to launch a business at the base of the pyramid. She is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Business School and has lived in Nigeria since 2008. Mira received the WZCC Young Zarathushti Award in 2020. [ link ]
About Tomato Jos
Founded in 2014, Tomato Jos tackles structural bottlenecks in Nigeria’s tomato sector — from farm productivity and post-harvest losses to processing and market access. The company works with hundreds of smallholder farmers, providing inputs, training, and offtake, then processes tomatoes locally into value-added products to reduce import dependence. A financing milestone in 2020 supported scale-up of its Kaduna-state processing plant, reinforcing the firm’s integrated model from field to factory. Recognition has followed: Tomato Jos won the 2024 SAVE FOOD Project Competition for practical innovations that cut post-harvest waste, and it has partnered with development initiatives to boost farmer resilience and incomes in northern Nigeria. These steps illustrate a blueprint for agribusiness in emerging markets — align incentives across the chain, professionalize farming practices, build local processing, and deliver consistent, affordable products to consumers. As the company expands, its impact focus remains clear: higher farm-gate income, local job creation, and more stable supplies for Nigerian households. For readers tracking diaspora-led innovation, Tomato Jos shows how operational excellence plus community partnership can unlock both commercial and social returns.