Tava
Los Angeles, California
Tava Life is a gourmet food product company, founded by Raquel Tavares Gunsagar and is based in Los Angeles, California. The company derives its inspiration from an innate desire to inspire others to live life to its fullest potential. Tava is passionate about simple foods and food ingredients that are often passed over due to changes in cultural food trends and health findings. These culinary "lost treasures" are brought back to life in Tava's product lineup, which includes ancient foods like ghee - the Indian version of clarified butter. Ghee is a yet-untapped culinary treasure in mainstream American diets, with incredible flavor and health benefits. Learn more about the magic of ghee, here.
ABOUT THE NAME
Tava, or “little cast iron pan” in Hindi, is the implement on which Indian flat breads are commonly cooked on. Tava is also the first four letters of Raquel's maiden name, Tavares. The name, Tava, pays homage to the founder's heritage and that of her husband and children, whom are of Indian decent.
ABOUT THE FOUNDER
Raquel Tavares Gunsagar was born in Brazil and immigrated to California as a young child. She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two young children, 5 and 3. Two years ago she left her career in high-tech to care for her young boys, but yearned to make a difference doing something she was passionate about. Raquel loves cooking, yoga, staying active and packing life full of experiences. Tava Life unites all her passions and the result is a fabulous line of gourmet flavored grass-fed ghee. She was originally inspired by her mother's love of Ayurveda and it was a staple in her home while growing up. Raquel made her first batch of flavored ghee over a decade ago, while experimenting in the kitchen. The result was a family staple that has won the hearts (and palates) of her family (kids, too!) and friends. Ghee still continues to be an essential part of her growing children's healthy diet, while yet making every dish something to look forward to for adults, too. She believes ghee is a yet untapped culinary treasure in mainstream American diets, and is excited to share the beauty of its incredible flavor and health benefits.
ABOUT THE CO-FOUNDER
Lilly Wunsch has always had a passion for natural foods. After graduating from UCLA Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Business Economics, she finally was forced to cook for herself. This opened up a whole new world of discovering pure, simple ways to eat and live. A former vegan and now flexitarian (yes, Tava ghee is that good!), Lilly joined Tava with over eight years of experience with PwC. There she developed additional passions for driving organization efficiency, financial modeling and data analytics. After servicing many Fortune 500 companies she’s happy to begin cooking up something new.
When Lilly isn't wrist deep in the kitchen with Raquel making ghee you can find her reading her favorite novel, dancing or lounging lakeside with BBQ prongs in hand at Coachella. She loves traveling, enjoying company of friends and great conversation. She's witty, fun, wicked smart and the best co-founder one could ask for.
