LEARNING
INTER-DISCIPLINARY FOOD FUTURES

A monthly lecture series by Goya, GRAIN connects you with the people who are shaping the way we cook, eat, and think about food: founders, farmers, photographers, writers, stylists, chefs, writers, growers, designers and everyone in between.

About GRAIN →

how it works

  • Each module covers a specific topic over 3 sessions, running weekly on Tuesday evenings.

  • Virtual sessions with 45 minutes of lecture time + 15-minute Q&A. Class recordings are available after every session.

  • Pre-reading material will accompany each module to deepen engagement between sessions, and facilitate further offline peer study.

  • The term ends with an in-person residency. Attend all sessions to get priority access.

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the speakers

Our speakers are industry insiders, with years of experience. They share best practices, insights and learnings from their most exciting projects.

Meet the speakers →

the program

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  • Speakers: Payal Shah, Prachet Sancheti, Namrata Sundaresan

    An Introduction to Fermentation
    Monday, 13th April 2026
    Payal Shah, Kobo Fermentary
    An introduction to fermentation. How microbes transform food, and why this process shows up in every food culture.

    The Craft of Fermented Dairy 
    Tuesday, 14 April 2026
    Namrata Sundaresan, Kase Cheese
    A deep dive into cheese- the microbiology, the craft, and what it takes to build a niche fermented dairy product in the Indian market.

    Koji, Miso and the Future of Fermentation
    Tuesday, 21 April 2026
    Prachet, Brown Koji Boy
    A deeper look at koji and miso, and their role in shaping modern fermentation practices.

  • Speaker: Fiona Arakal

    A Farmer’s Playbook: Lessons in Building & Sustaining a Farm from the Ground Up.
    Tuesday, 5 May 2026 
    Fiona Arakal, Ishka Farms
    How one first-generation farmer built Ishka Farms from the ground up, and why she chose capers as her crop of focus.

    Lessons in the Business of Farming
    Tuesday, 12 May 2026
    A closer look at market strategy, positioning, and creating value as an independent farmer.

    Understanding F&B Marketing Jargon
    Tuesday, 19 May 2026
    Understand what organic certification actually means, its global regulatory landscape, environmental stakes, and the costs and barriers for independent farmers.

  • Speaker: Taiyaba Ali, Shubhra Chatterji, Terrence Manne

    Preserving Food Through Writing 
    Tuesday, 2 June 2026 
    Taiyaba Ali, Food Writer
    A conversation on who gets to tell food stories, what gets left out, and how writing can be a tool for archiving food and the people behind food.

    Politics of the Gaze
    Tuesday, 9 June 2026 
    Shubhra Chatterji, Historywali
    Lessons from a filmmaker who has spent years documenting India's food story. Shubhra talks about the ethics of the camera, the politics of the gaze, and how to best tell stories from within a community.

    The Future of Visual Food Documentation
    Tuesday, 16 June 2026
    Terrence Manne, Photographer
    The process of shooting food in remote places. How to photograph with sensitivity, preserve the subject's voice, and think about the future of visual food documentation.

  • Speakers: Hansel Vaz, Dona Aideau

    The Complicated History of Indie Spirits
    Tuesday, 4 August 2026 
    Hansel Vaz

    Exploring India’s Heirloom Rice Varieties
    Tuesday, 11 August 2026 

    Decolonising Tea as we Know It
    Tuesday, 18 August 2026 
    Dona Aideau, Tea Producer, Taster & Sommelier
    The global history and politics of tea. From indigenous varieties and colonial trade routes to the question of what it means to decolonise the cup.

  • Speakers: Pranoy Thipaih, Marc Tormo, Arshiya Bose

    The Microbes that Make your Coffee
    Tuesday, 25 August 2026 
    Pranoy Thipaiah, Kerehaklu
    What happens between picking a coffee cherry and what ends up in your cup. How do the microbes in the soil, the fruit, and the surrounding forest are shaping the flavour of your coffee?

    Designing Coffee Flavour through Fermentation
    Tuesday, 1 September 2026 
    Marc Tormo, Naad
    How much of coffee’s flavour can we control? This session explores how fermentation in coffee processing works, what variables a producer can control, and where the environment takes over.

    Biodiversity and the Future of Coffee 
    Tuesday, 8 September 2026
    Arshiya Bose, Black Baza Coffee
    What landscape-level biodiversity conservation looks like in practice, and what the future of food demands from farmers, ecologists, and communities.

  • Speakers: Minakshi Singh, Khushboo Gandhi, Tanya George

    Scaling the Hospitality Business
    Tuesday, 15 September 2026
    Minakshi Singh, Sidecar
    Looking at what it  takes to run and grow a hospitality business, from building teams to putting the right systems in place.

    Design, Sustainability and Visual Language
    Tuesday, 22 September 2026
    Khushboo Gandhi
    How design shapes the way we perceive, value, and choose food, and what sustainable packaging looks like as both an aesthetic and ethical commitment.

    Brand Identity through Type Design
    Tuesday, 29 September 2026
    Tanya George, Tanyatypes
    Reading restaurants through typography, how type communicates the identity, tone, and ambitions of a food space.