Better for People, better for the Planet new way of farming by Nutrifresh Farm
CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Sanket Mehta, Co-founder, Nutrifresh Farm Tech India Pvt. Ltd.
What led to the foundation of the company?
Founded in 2019 by two former finance professionals, Sanket Mehta and Ganesh Nikam, from farming families, started Nutrifresh as an India-based controlled-environment agriculture (“CEA”) venture that designs, constructs and operates technology-enabled greenhouses producing hydroponically-grown premium quality fresh fruits and vegetables. The Company constructed its first 10-acre facility in Oct 2020, producing 1,100 metric tons per annum of 42 varieties of fresh produce, selling into Mumbai and Pune.
This Agritech startup called Nutrifresh Farm Tech India Pvt Ltd was set up with the goal of providing healthy, pesticide-free, and residue-free food to a wide range of consumers across India. Hydroponic produce has an advantage of bringing nutrient-rich vegetables to the Indian consumer year-round. Nutrifresh is committed to quality and is one of the few farmers with ISO, FSSAI, APEDA, HACCP, and GLOBAL GAP certifications.
What is Hydroponic farming? How does it differ from other farming practices?
Nutrifresh has an established protected growth facility of 33acres farm near Pune, that uses high quality seeds from Israel and the United States, where air is given in controlled amounts, water is RO cleansed, and nutrients are water-soluble. From seed procurement to germination, nursery, harvesting, packaging, and finally delivery to the end user, the entire production is under control. The produce is delivered to the consumer within 24 hours of harvest, demonstrating that the supply chain is fully linked and in sync to ensure consistency of freshness. Nutrifresh has been able to achieve superior quality and Freshness. Besides, Nutrifresh’s Hydroponic Farming will also help in establishing regular and steady income for Farmers. These types of Cultivation help in upscaling per unit production up to 10 times, utilize 90% less water and entire produce is Pesticide Free.
What do you offer at Nutrifresh? Online and offline both and at which locations?
Nutrifresh is the only Hydroponic grower that boasts of over 42 SKUs of fruity vegetables such as Bell Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Zucchinis, Seedless Cucumbers, and Broccoli, as well as leafy vegetables such as Lettuces, Spinach, Fenugreek, Coriander, Mint, Kale, Arugula, Celery, Parsley, and Mustard Green, and herbs such as Oregano, Thyme. Nutrifresh now sells its products to over 150 B2B aggregators in India, as well as modern trade aggregators and delivery partners such as Nature’s Basket, Big Basket, Swiggy, Kissan Konnect, and Zomato Hyper pure. Star Bazaar, Reliance Fresh, Amazon Fresh, Blinkit, Zepto.
Nutrifresh products are available on Nutrifresh via app, website, and Google Forms. They supply its products to over 150 plus B2B aggregators in the Indian market and Modern Trade Delivery Partners like Big Basket, Swiggy Instamart, Vista Foods (McDonalds), Super Daily and Zomato, Having operations in Pune and Mumbai. Products are available online on www.nutrifresh.co
The produce is delivered to the consumer within 24 hours of harvest, demonstrating that the supply chain is fully linked and in sync to ensure consistency of freshness and in line with company’s motto: “Farm-To-Fork”
How technology involved in Hydroponics Farming?
Adaption to the latest technology and advanced farming techniques, the company is changing the landscape of Indian agriculture. We believe that there is no plan-et B. So, we have a stronger commitment towards our planet and we aim to make it a better place to live in. At Nutrifresh, sustainability is not just a process, it is a way of living. We ensure minimum utilization of natural resources & thus created sustainable farming methods like Vertical Farming; ensuring least utilization of land and providing almost 5X output.
Staying on top of different processes can be daunting in agriculture, but we are committed to bringing cutting-edge technology to the Indian agricultural landscape & create an environment that is scalable, sustainable & ever-evolving. We have deployed several AI-powered solutions to understand & analyze data and leverage it to maximize output. This will ensure that our customers get the best of fruits and vegetables.
What are Future plans?
We aim to be the largest Hydroponics & Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) player in India in the next 5 years; cultivating on at least 500-acres owned by the company. Expansion of farm operations, implementation of total traceability and transparency of output, market products, and developing an integrated Farm-tech platform along with empowering villages through CSR
Women Empowerment approach & enabling women earn an honest income; whether they’re our farm staff or our women-only sales channel gives us the strength & motivation to keep working harder & getting better by the day.
