At the cusp of the lockdown, a decision by four young entrepreneurs to convert fresh produce meant for retail into a home delivery service model proved to be a business masterstroke
Urvish Bhaide, Siddhesh Desai, Darpan Bendre and Himanshu Dighavkar
Agrify Organic Solutions
Darpan Bendre 22, Urvish Bhaide 23, Siddhesh Desai 22 and Himanshu Dighavkar 23
ADVERTISEMENT
Agrify was built on the idea of creating an efficient bridge between small farmers and buyers, seeking high quality produce using next generation technologies
ON the evening of March 24, 2020, when the lockdown was announced, four students of Mukesh Patel School Of Technology Management & Engineering at NMIMS were worried about the fate of their 10-month-old start-up Agrify Organic Solutions that connected farmers to retail buyers, mainly restaurants. With dine-ins closed indefinitely, they knew their orders would be put on hold. The four entrepreneurs Darpan Bendre, Urvish Bhaide, Siddhesh Desai, Himanshu Dighavkar, had launched Agrify in May 2019.
“We were worried about the produce in our warehouse, and so we broadcasted a Whatsapp message to sell it, and braced ourselves to cater to around 500 clients. We received 50,000 queries. The panic of the lockdown meant the demand for home delivery of fruits and vegetables skyrocketed,” elaborates Bendre. It threw a surprise for them: from having earned revenue of nearly R6 lakh in March 2020, they were making R25 lakh by April 2020 that was sustained for around three months. They studied the new market demands and focused their attention on the B2C market by supplying fruits and veggies at customer’s doorsteps via their website (www.agrifyorganics.com).
A farm of leafy vegetables near the Niphad-Nashik Region
The team sources produce from three belts around Kolhapur, Pune and Nashik, and had touched nearly 1,000 orders a day. By September 2020, they had solid seed funding based on the performance. When the lockdown was lifted in phases, the figures dropped. “This was inevitable. While we continue to do special seasonal deliveries for B2C, we have grown our B2B arm to provide a tech site that offers traceable organic produce. This includes contract farming and crop traceability for hygiene and quality standards, and customised technical specifications,” reveals Bendre.
One of the farmers that the team procures produce from
The idea was sown in 2018 as a social service project that the four wanted to submit for the Annual World Cup competition at Enactus, the world’s largest experiential learning platform. “We wanted to turn farmers into entrepreneurs and make them set up a market in Borivali. Though we didn’t win, we earned their goodwill,” recalls Bendre. Agrify was built on the idea of creating an efficient bridge between small farmers and buyers, seeking high quality produce using next generation technologies. From engineering to business, the boys believe their vocational course trained them in problem-solving ability and handling pressure. Their parents also needed convincing at the start. “I was down with typhoid, and I remember our initial meetings in the hospital. Since we were all students, we signed up with the Atal Bihari Incubation Centre at NMIMS where we received hands-on mentorship on how to run a start-up,” admits Bendre.
Beetroot, which has been received at the collection centre in Naryangaon from farms around the region
They have a central packing warehouse in Andheri East while their collection unit in Narayangaon, Pune, is where their 30-strong staff clean, pack and store the produce. “In the beginning, we hadn’t accounted for humidity changes from Pune to Mumbai; sometimes, managing 50 deliveries affected the quality of the produce, so we limited the numbers per truck,” he laughs.
In the next three years, the quartet hope to raise venture capital funding to re-engineering Indian agriculture by extending an export arm, and providing services like crop planning, crop insurance, and satellite monitoring to farmers while offering the Agrify quality assurance to buyers.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
