Organic vegetables at your doorstep

ECO – Friends Group in Mangaluru have introduced the concept of ‘Door 2 Door Organics’, a dial-in delivery initiative, to deliver organically grown vegetables to the doorsteps of the people in the city.

Rajesh R of Eco Friends, said that the initiative provided a range of organic vegetables and fruits. “It has introduced the concept of a ‘weekly farm box’. Customers can choose from small, medium and large farm boxes with vegetables including onion, tomato, potato, cucumber and carrot,” he explained.

Recipes and varieties

“The ECO – Friends Group is a team of 20 persons with a different list of vegetables for each week. We also provide a recipe that can be tried out using the vegetables in our farm box,” Rajesh added.

Speaking further, he said that the only way to gain a good customer base for organic food is ensuring people get a regular supply at a reasonable price. “The cost of production of organic food is high and there are also instances where the farmers are forced to mix organic vegetables with the regular varieties and sell them at rock-bottom prices,” he explained.

For a weekly payment of Rs 275, customers get a basket of five greens home-delivered every week. The supply includes two bundles of traditional greens such as palak, mint, methi, and Ceylon pasalai; one bundle of dressing greens such as lemon grass and basil as well as one bundle each of ‘conventional’ and ‘exotic’ greens.

Technology

Reworking the inefficient farmer-vendor-customer chain through innovation and technology in Mangaluru, the ECO Friends Group, which is a start-up, is showing how the ‘farm to home’ route can be tweaked to benefit all.

Further, Rajesh said that the team is working on the software, to perfect the team’s system. “There are plans to launch an app for the group too,” he said.