Veg-In-A-Basket

In February 2018, a representative of Syngenta Foundation India on a due diligence visit to Manipur commented on the greenness and quality of the cabbages being harvested all around us. He took one home all the way back to Hyderabad and later commented on how delicious it was! This planted the seed for our Veg-in-a-Box (ViB) sociopreneurship model, getting freshly harvested vegetables from our network of trusted farmers direct to urban consumers.

In doing so, it is designed to address a few key challenges:

1. Farmers not getting value for their hard labour in producing good quality vegetables

2. Busy urban consumers not having the time to shop for fresh vegetables and being suspicious about chemical overuse on crops

3. Extremely volatile pricing with unreliable supply chains

4. And, finally, traceability enabling consumers to put names and faces to the growers producing their food

Ms. Rajina Potsangbam, a volunteer then, carried out a feasibility study with 75 urban households and identified a group of 10 early adopters willing to help pilot this model. Today, two years after that spark, Team MaolKeki led by Rajina, have delivered the first baskets, and many more! Hyderabad is not in our sight yet however consumers in Imphal can WhatsApp, call or email order a ViB, fresh from our farmers!