How the seed was sowed?

After living in the US for 15 years and seeing a myriad of options available both in the fast(junk)-food industry and the healthier-but-way-too-costlier food industry, we were striving to bring a healthier option to our communities but one that would not break the bank.

Since moving to the US in 2004, I had fallen in love with Salads. There were so many options to choose from – cold pre-packed salads, warm salads, salad grain bowls. I could have a new salad every day and still not see a repeat for almost a month.  Even when I was in the US, I had found putting together a salad at home a rather laborious task. An Indian kitchen just doesn’t have the necessary ingredients to make a delicious and healthy salad at home.  

As I moved across the US, my love for salads continued to grow and I got to try a variety of cuisines and flavours from across the US. Towards the end of 2014, my travels to San Francisco increased and I got introduced to something unique to San Francisco, California – boutique restaurants serving unique salads that were fresh, flavourful, and delicious salads. The only major downside is they usually would cost you a bomb. A salad would cost anywhere from $11 to $15 depending on the toppings you go for. You add a fresh juice and your bill will easily breach $20 – now that’s costly even from San Francisco standards. But I just could not keep myself away from these restaurants and their delicious yet costly salads. 

Early Sprouts

On returning to India in late 2018, I was surprised to see a lack of options for good healthier options. India of 2018 was way different from that of 2004. In 2004, there were very few eateries but whatever we had then, food was still relatable and something that we had grown with. 2018 was way different, everywhere I looked I could easily find a Pizzahut, a MacD, a Burger King, and even a ton of our own desi junk food outlets.  

Whatever healthier options I could find were way more costly and at the same time tasteless, days old and bland. I was surprised to see the lack of healthier options especially given the Micro-nutritional deficiency we see in India. With the increased numbers of diabetes, heart issues, and hypertension in India, I would have hoped India to move into a healthier lifestyle. But was dismayed to see how India was blindly imitating the West when it came to Junk food. 

My mind kept going back to my days in the US. I started to envision what it would mean to bring healthier options to India. How it will help India, with a set of options being available in India. Things started to take shape around building a business around providing our communities with healthy real food options – bringing the best of San Francisco but at a much more affordable price. 

As I continued to work on the business model, I soon realized how difficult it was to procure fresh vegetables that were not littered with tons of pesticides. (For anyone wanting to learn more about what goes on our plate, please watch a TED talk – Poison on our plate by Ramanjaneyulu GV.) The more I researched the more I got frustrated at the situation around fresh vegetables. India calls itself a “Krushi-Pradhan country”, but the neglect around building a sustainable supply chain and marketplace for Farmers is infuriating. I was convinced not only that I will have to grow my vegetables, but also to play my part in developing a marketplace for my fellow farmers and help them move into high-value agriculture.

A Blooming Plant

So in June of 2021, we launched Nourishing Farms to deliver pesticide-free, highly nutritious, fresh, and flavorful vegetables and food products within 24 hours of harvesting. Once we had the infrastructure to produce the majority of our vegetables, we started to look into how we can develop a model to deliver fresh salads.

We believe that real food should be convenient and accessible to everyone. Throughout my career in Technology, I have been driven by building products that deliver value to the customer as well as enhance their lives in every possible way. With Nourishing Farms, we want to have a positive impact on both the Farmers and as well as our Customers.

• Innovation: We will drive innovation to bring true transformation in agriculture and related fields. 
• Responsible: We will adhere to sustainable methods of cultivating high-quality vegetables while keeping Consumers, Farmers and Nature at the forefront.  
• Quality and safety: We will follow a world-class Food Safety and Quality Assurance program to deliver safe, hygienic, and delicious vegetables.  
• Kaizen: We will strive to bring continuous improvement in everything we do.