After tasting success in home turf, Kerala, Farmers Fresh Zone, a start-up which is involved in delivering safe to eat vegetables and fruits at doorstep, to residents in Coimbatore by expanded its footprint in Tamil Nadu. Brain child of Pradeep P. S., this agri-based start-up has ambitious plans to take the business to the next level and expand its footprint pan-India in the years to come.
After tasting success in home turf, Kerala, Farmers Fresh Zone, a start-up which is involved in delivering safe to eat vegetables and fruits at doorstep, to residents in Coimbatore by expanded its footprint in Tamil Nadu. Brain child of Pradeep P. S., this agri-based start-up has ambitious plans to take the business to the next level and expand its footprint pan-India in the years to come.
The seeds of venturing into the agriculture business were sown in Pradeep when he was as young as ten years old
When boys of his age chose to play with cars and board games, Pradeep would spend his free time in the agriculture land owned by his father, lending him a helping hand there. His father was then a retired from serving in the Indian army. Pradeep’s uncle too, was involved in agriculture. However, things took a u-turn when his father and uncle failed to get the amount that they invested in growing the crops. Thus, both of them gave up their stint with agriculture. However, a young Pradeep, who was quick as grasping things as a child had it on the back of his mind that one day he will find a solution to this problem that not only his family faced but also many-a-farmers had to deal with in order to make ends meet. The seeds of bringing in a change in the agriculture sector by offering respite to farmers were thus sown.
Life moved on by the ambition to bring in a green change was undeterred
Several years passed and Pradeep was associated with the Information Technology sector, working a typical 9 am to 6 pm job. However, the urge to offer respite to the farmers on one hand and to deliver quality, safe to eat, vegetables and fruits to customers on the other hand, made him begin working on a model to meet this goal on a low scale.
Giving serious thought to this idea, Pradeep donned the hat of an IT professional by the day with his white collar job and post office hours, he would with pride wear a green collar. He connected with eight farmers who produced 14 crops in their agri land and the same was sold outside the IT part where Pradeep worked in Kerala. “I sold the produce for a justified cost to about 15 customers. Happy with the quality, the demand from the end users kept pouring and this made me think of starting delivering safe to eat vegetables and fruits to customers and also help farmers get the cost they deserve for cultivating the produce,” a nostalgic Pradeep tells us.
Without waiting any time, in 2015, Pradeep began R&D work for his company and this since then on, there was no looking back for him. Back then he has 15 customers to whom he sold 14 crops produced by eight farmers.
Pradeep’s labour had borne fruits
After meticulously planning the business model, connecting with farmers and hand holding them to produce safe to eat fruits and vegetables, setting up the storage unit and packing facility, Pradeep’s launched his start-up christened Farmers Fresh Zone in Kochi in 2017. The venture has a virtual presence and the doors of the brick and mortar store were also open to the public in the same year. In Kerala the start-up services four cities currently. “We started off with mentoring 2,000 farmers and through our 100-odd customers, we reached out to about 10,000 people, delivering safe to eat fruits and vegetables. Right from the inception, Farmers Fresh Zone has stuck to its promise of delivering to the doorstep of its customers, safe and safe to consumer vegetables, within 16 hours of procuring them from the field.
Customers can place orders for the vegetables and fruits through the official website of the company. Orders can be made through the app which can be downloaded for free from the Google and Apple store. The team of in-house experts from the company pay regular visits to the agri lands were fruits and vegetables are cultivated and oversee activities at the ground level. Meanwhile, at the storage unit, only after passing stringent quality checks, are the vegetables and fruits dispatched for delivery. Strict quality standards are adhered to at every step. Once the order is placed, Farmers Fresh Zone, offers its customer the option to track the order from the agricultural field from where the produce is sourced. This makes their business model transparent. In the pipeline, Pradeep tells us that the company plans to offer its customers an option to select from which farmer they would prefer to have their fruits and vegetables delivered.
Farmers Fresh Zone works on a data driven approach, where farmers are given a time table to work on producing fruits and vegetables in their agri lands for a good three months time period. Based on individual customer orders, the produce is collected from four collection centres, packed and displaced to customers.
Currently, the company has tied up with about 2,000 farmers who produce more than 70 vegetable varieties, over 25 different fruits and Farmers Fresh Zone has a customer base of 1.2 lakh customers.
The tree plans to expand its branches to many regions
The pandemic was a blessing in disguise for Farmers Fresh Zone when the company downed the shutters of their physical stores. Thanks to customers switching to online methods of shopping and opting for cashless transactions. During this period, the company recorded a more than 20% growth rate in business.
Encouraged by the response and motivated by the potential the mature consumers possess in the textile city, the company has made a debut in Coimbatore, the first in the state of Tamil Nadu.
With an investment of 2.5 crore, the start-up was initiated. As part of its expansion plans, Farmers Fresh Zone will raise a sum of rupees 6.5 crore that will be used to expand its footprint.
“In the next two years, we plan to make a presence in 18 cities down south. And by turn of 2026, we will have a pan-India footprint. With this in mind, we are working on strategies to make sure that farmers who are associated with us, earn as much as rupees 10,000 a month.” Pradeep tells SimpliCity.
Currently, three days after delivering the fruits and vegetables, the amount for the produce is credited in the farmer’s bank account. The farmers who are associated with Farmers Fresh Zone have an app exclusively designed and developed for them, through which they can stay in direct touch with the company.
Having launched in the textile city, Pradeep tells us that the company has already started receiving repeat orders from its customers and is positive of expanding its customer base in the city. Also, Farmers Fresh Zone is aiming to make available its safe to eat vegetables and fruits in many more cities in the state.