Farm-Fresh products hit Chennai stores

Started by organic farmers Archana Stalin and Stalin Kalidoss, this e-store was only selling vegetables, fruits, greens and country chicken eggs. But after the pandemic, they have included a different range of products including traditional rice, oils, jaggery products, etc. “Our regular customers started asking about other products and we thought this was the right time to sell them. We are now procuring rice varieties and oils. Women in our farms also make traditional snacks using millets, palm jaggery, etc,” shares Archana Stalin.

ECOINDIAN 

Ecoindian started by Prem Antony and Pradeep Kumar source their products from local artisans, organic farmers, self-help groups and non-mass producing brands. Earlier, they offered only groceries. Recently, they have added organic vegetables, greens and fruits grown at their farm and sourced from other farmer groups. “We do sell different types of organic millets including foxtail millet, Kodo millet, finger millet and pearl millet. Our health seeds are also much in-demand. We started getting inquiries about vegetables and fruits during the lockdown. So, we thought of adding them and now we sell vegetables and fruits as well. Instead of storing a lot of veggies, we have limited varieties and quantities as per harvest within our reliable group of farmers. Apart from this, we also have hydroponically-grown greens. This is for customers who come to the store,” says Prem Antony.

DAILY LOCALLY 

“Our idea is to come out of the conventional supply chain. Our products, produce and brands are clean labelled which do not support any form of preservatives. We source from producers who operate in a 50-100 km radius in Chennai to ensure freshness and support the local economy. We eliminate middlemen so that the farmers and producers get maximum benefits. By doing so, we are also getting indigenous products. We sell organic fruits and vegetables, dairy, bakery products, spices and general groceries,” says Arun Prashanth B of Daily Locally.

FARMVALLI ORGANICS 

This start-up was launched to bridge the gap between organic farmers and customers in the city. They sell vegetables and fruits directly from the farms. Maruthu Pandi, one of the co-founders, tells us that the current situation made them come up with healthy snacks. “We have added millet cookies, pasta and noodles. Also, we are now selling 20 varieties of rice sourced from farmers across Tamil Nadu. Our exclusive products are Himalayan apricot, garlic powder and a rare fruit called Rama Seetha pazham. We will be supplying Alphonso mango during April-May that is procured from Ratnagiri,” Maruthu says.

MANNVASANAI 

Menaka Thilak started Mannvasanai to bring back the lost traditional rice varieties of Tamil Nadu. Mannvasanai sells dosa and idly mixes that’s made with traditional rice varieties. Menaka says, “Our keerai and herbal mix also have a lot of repeat customers. During the lockdown, we launched two new products — appalam made of organic urad dal and karuppu kavuni ice cream. We source the appalam from an organic farmer in Tamil Nadu and a lot of people are buying the product as well. Instead of getting products from mass-producing brands, people have become conscious about what they consume. Our karuppu kavuni ice cream is another fast-moving product.”

SPIRIT OF THE EARTH 

This store located in Mylapore is famous for its artisanal heritage rice varieties. At their farm located in Manjakkudi in the Tiruvarur district, they hand-select the purest line of heirloom seeds from farmer networks across the country. Some of the artisanal rice varieties include ajara ghansal (Maharashtra), ambe mohar (Maharashtra), bakul phool (West Bengal), bora (Assam), chak hao amubi (Manipur), chak hao poireiton (Manipur), kala bhat (West Bengal) and kalajeera (Odisha). Many Chennaiites opt for their subscription boxes as well.