Vegetables / Milk Can Now Be Directly Ordered From Farmers In Pune Through SMS, Email & Phone

Consumers and Retailers in Pune can now order fresh vegetables and milk requirements directly from Farmers at much cheaper rates.

This initiative is carried out by Abhinav Farmer’s Club, a group of around 305 farmers who do farming in and around Pune. According to Mr. Dyaneshwar Bodke, who manages the club, these farmers come together and plan before hand, who will grow which vegetable. Abhinav Club then takes vegetable orders on SMS, email or phones and then deliver it to consumers doorstep directly.

Abhinav Club have their outlets in various part of the cities, where these vegetables are first delivered and then sent to respective buyers, be it end consumer or retailers. Currently, if the order is small and comes from an individual, it may be difficult for them to deliver, but if a group of around 10 individuals order from same area, they are able to deliver it.

These organic vegetables are cleaned and properly packed as per orders given before they are dispatched to respective places.

According to Bodke, last year Abhinav Club sold over Rs. 3.5 crore worth of vegetables from farmers to consumers and retailers.

In addition to door-step delivery, they have also opened up 5 different outlets in Pune where consumers can directly buy vegetables at much cheaper rates directly from farmers.

Bodke added that this facility has increased earnings of farmers to a large extent. Earlier, when they sold it to middlemen, they faced a lot of problems like wastage of their produce and not to mention much lower rates.

Apart from vegetables, Abhinav Farmers club has also extended this facility to end consumer’s milk requirements. The milk supplied directly by farmers is unadulterated having much higher fat content as compared to packaged milk, where majority of fat is removed from the milk.

Once consumer has placed the order for milk from Abhinav club, their personnel delivers it to door-step at agreed frequency.

According to Bodke, they will be starting this service in Thane, Mumbai in next couple of weeks and over next few months will be extending it to more cities in Maharashtra.

Our View

It is a no-brainer that direct marketing of vegetables / milk is a win-win situation for farmers as well consumers. While consumers get fresh vegetables at nearly 40 percent cheaper price at the same time Farmers are able to make nearly double the money from their produce.

In addition to this, Abhinav Club ensures cleanliness and proper packaging, which may not always be the case when consumers buy it from traditional vegetable markets.