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Innovation takes root

When one goes to the market, anything that is labelled organic, promises a healthier lifestyle, conserves environment and supports rural population, one doesn’t mind shelling out extra bucks.

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Gurnaaz Kaur

When one goes to the market, anything that is labelled organic, promises a healthier lifestyle, conserves environment and supports rural population, one doesn’t mind shelling out extra bucks. Keeping in mind the long-term benefits and having the passion to offer something innovative, young entrepreneurs in tricity are coming up with novel start-up ideas.

Sweet gesture

House of Farmers is the brainchild of Bhupesh Saini, an MBA, who recently quit his job as the director of marketing and advertising for a company in Japan, to work with small farmers. His idea was to help them market their produce and what took birth is Jaggic. “My very first experiment was with jaggery. Everything looked perfect; it’s available in abundance, is very healthy, will help sugarcane farmers; is the best alternative to sugar. All I had to do was be a bit creative and I decided to make jaggery bars like chocolates — nicely packed and easy to consume.” 

As one thing led to another, he partnered with Navdeep Khera  and together they have brought in the market bite-sized jaggery candies in five flavours — turmeric, fennel, moringa, amla and ginger. There is also jaggery sweetener, liquid jaggery and they are working towards creating more such interesting products that are purely organic and healthy.

Formally launched in January this year, the ground work took over two years and their vision is to integrate rural and progressive India. “Very soon you will be able to trace back everything you are eating to the farmer who produced it and also know about him and his agricultural practices. He will be like your family farmer... just like you family doctor.” 

Bake it right

For those who think eating right means keeping sweetmeats at an arm’s length, Kanika Banth is working to change the notion. With Lite Batter, her focus is to create healthy options for those who have a sweet tooth. Dark chocolate flaxseed brownies, beetroot cake, lemon and poppy seed loafs, dark chocolate chip cookie cereals and more are some bestsellers at her healthy bakery. 

“Our key ingredients include low fat, low cholesterol oil and butter. We do not use any refined sugar; instead we use shakkar,” Kanika tells. It was when she came back after completing a hospitality management course from Auckland University and worked at The Leela Hotels for some years that she realised people with a sweet tooth rarely found something healthy to munch on. It soon turned into an inspiration. “I wanted to create a niche brand true to its core— homemade sweet treats made with local and natural ingredients; sweets that one could have without thinking twice and feeling guilty.” 

Flower power

If you too believe in the aphorism, ‘Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower,’ this should exhilarate you. The Bloomery plucks oriental lilies from its farms and delivers them fresh in boxes to you on a subscription basis. There are monthly, quarterly, biannually and yearly subscriptions. This novel idea is supported by a noble thought of employing women.

From providing above-average wages, access to healthcare and ensuring good working conditions, The Bloomery makes sure to not forget the people who make each box possible. A venture started by three partners — Varun Bajaj, Hare Krishan and Robin Chadha — their vision is, “To make a fresh flower everyday a reality for your homes and offices. We also work towards creating the perfect gifting experience.”

Every delivery goes with flower care manual and flower food to increase the longevity of the bunch. “The idea originated from the customer feedback regarding our flowers. Lots of lily aficionados in Chandigarh pushed us into retailing. From ‘farm to your home’ is picking up steam for a lot of products, but we can proudly say that we are the first ones to start flower subscriptions of lilies in Chandigarh,” beams Robin.

Farm fresh

Dedicated to promoting farming in every household is Pindfresh; this start-up is equipping people with home hydroponic machines to grow their own leafy greens, so that no one has to eat pesticide-laden greens from the market. Pindfresh makes these kits from a beginner level to full-scale commercial setups. 

“Living in a matchbox apartment in Manhattan, we first realised the need for a convenient way to grow your own daily use vegetables at home. Back in India, my father was experimenting with his own hydroponic systems as he was building an entire kitchen garden on the roof of our house. His systems are what I then commercialised and started selling. There was a need for urban gardening, and we had figured out the nuts and bolts. It seemed like a perfect time and a perfect product to bring out,” says Somveer Anand, the co-founder. 

gurnaaz@tribunemail.com

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