Farm2Fam: Leading the way in exotic berry agriculture

Keya Salot | October 21, 2024

In an insightful interview, IBT spoke to Kia Salot, co-founder of Farm to Farm, where she discussed her journey from law to sustainable urban farming, focusing on growing exotic fruits like blueberries and raspberries in India. She highlighted the challenges, including India’s non-participation in IP conventions and adapting climate-smart agriculture to local conditions. Farm2Fam has reduced infrastructure costs by 50% and aims to impact 500 farmer families by the next financial year. They emphasize quality control, using international expertise to ensure pesticide-free, high-quality produce. Future goals include expanding product consumption methods and collaborating with brands to educate consumers on healthy eating.

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IBT: Please tell us about your journey. How did the idea of importing plants and growing exotic fruits occur to you?

Keya Salot: In 2014, while pursuing my law degree at Government Law College, I came across intriguing data on agriculture. I observed that countries with lower incomes, such as Peru and Chile, were successfully growing high-value crops despite their limited agricultural advancement. In contrast, India, an agrarian economy, struggled to enhance crop yield and value.

The research revealed that India primarily focused on crops with Minimum Support Prices (MSP), which led farmers to prioritize stability over profitability. Additionally, many young farmers were leaving agriculture for urban jobs in call centers or banks, reflecting a lack of interest driven by low returns and insufficient skill development.

Recognizing these challenges, we took it as our cause to grow high-value crops in India. Our journey began from a simple idea: if other countries could succeed, why couldn’t India, a land rich in agriculture? We started with no background in farming or sales, fueled by the belief that it was possible.

Today, we are proud to report significant milestones. By the end of the next financial year, we aim to impact nearly 500 farming families and empower the women in these households to achieve financial independence. This journey has underscored the potential for growth in India’s agricultural sector.

IBT: I found it fascinating to learn about your use of modern technology that farm2fam uses, especially the ones utilized in countries like Israel and the USA. Could you share more about the specific tech you’re employing and how you came up with the idea of introducing them to India? What key factors did you consider in this process, both in terms of financial implications and climate adaptability?

Keya Salot: When my husband and co-founder, Vimal and I began our project, we traveled to Mexico, the USA, and several countries in Central and South America to explore the technologies they were using in agriculture. Many of these countries have conditions similar to India’s, and we aimed to understand how to leverage their climatic advantages.

One significant challenge we faced was related to varietal intellectual property (IP). Since India is not a signatory to any IP convention, convincing international partners to share their best plant varieties was difficult, especially as young entrepreneurs in our late twenties. However, we leveraged our previous business experiences and, over four years, have become proud growers of some of the finest blueberry and raspberry varieties in India—most of which are exclusively cultivated by us.

Another challenge was adapting climate-smart agriculture to Indian conditions. While the concept took root in India in the 1970s, much of the existing model was based on Dutch practices that didn’t translate well to our climate, particularly in western India. We worked with international agencies to develop mechanisms that effectively cool plants in summer and retain heat in cooler months. A key focus for us was cost-effectiveness; our vision is to place India on the global map for berry production. By innovating in this area, we’ve reduced infrastructure costs by 50%, enabling us to grow raspberries year-round and extend the berry season at our farm. These collaborations and innovations have been crucial to our success.

IBT: How do you ensure that your berries are free from pesticides, and what are the key factors that influence the quality and yield of the crop?

Keya Salot: We recognise that any business or any venture that we do is a collaboration of team effort, and the key point for the farm women and myself was to always get the best team on board. In 2021 we brought in experts from multiple countries to live at the farm, and a lot of them continue to live with us today. Now these were experts who had the major deep knowledge of the growing practices and how internationally, the production and the quality happens to be maintained. So one thing that we proud of is the knowledge that these experts have imparted, we’ve ensured that local team today at the farm understands and knows what exactly goes into the product, and you know how the quality control of the product happens. So that is how we have ensured that the product is in, I would say, not only impact far, but much more superior to an international product.

IBT: How do you envision the future of urban farming in agri tech in the next five to 10 years? And what role do you see Farm2Fam playing in the broader conversation about food sustainability?

Keya Salot: We feel farm to farm will be one of the major players in the Indian representing India for food sustainability. So while we talk of food sustainability in a very different context, we believe that India today has a very high disposable income, and these are the people who are ready to pay for the produce that they’re consuming internationally. So if you are aware that almost three years ago, India was almost importing around 18 to 20,000 crores of fresh fruits and vegetables. So we are tapping into that segment, and we want a lot of these crops to be grown locally. But again, we want to work with the best breeders and get the right technology for each of them. Yes, which is why we have started with blueberries and raspberries, and going forward in the next few years, our vision is to tap into multiple segments and ensure that we can cater to the consumers and provide them better produce at much reasonable cost.

IBT: So you also talked about getting into other several other sectors. What are your future goals in the context of agri-tech? Is there any specific technology that you are looking at that you want to bring this time? And because I also saw a very interesting collaboration with an healthy ice cream brand, and curious to know more about the kind of technology that you’re looking at.

Keya Salot: So not only growing, we want to get involved into the way a consumer can eat these products right. The main problem with a consumer, and when I talk of a consumer, I’m talking about young kids. I have twins who are less than two years old, twin boys, and the key problem when they eat a fruit is they don’t have the same consumer experience every time. So what we are looking at creating the same consumer experience with every bite of fruit. And you want India to understand the different paradigms in which the way, different ways in which these fruits can be consumed. So not only are we growing them and selling them in the fresh category, but we are also working with different brands, such as NOTO worked with Paul and Mike, we’ve done multiple collaborations across the segment to educate the customer about the different ways of eating a healthy product. The idea that we are always focusing on is health. You would probably not find farm2fam products which are very sugar lead in, high end preservatives. Our entire motto is that, if us, the families, can eat it very clean and openly, that is only the product that we wish.

Keya Salot is a lawyer turned farmer with a degree from Government Law College in Mumbai. After practicing law, she pursued a passion for agriculture, aiming to grow high-value crops in India using innovative technologies. Her journey began with a trial project in microgreens, leading to global collaborations for top crop varieties. Committed to empowering local farmers, especially women, she focuses on skill development and financial independence.

Keya sells products directly to retailers like Star Bazaar and Nature’s Basket, and online through Swiggy and Zepto. She envisions making India a key player in berry production for both local and international markets.

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