This is a project aimed to (a) help farmers get a fair price for their produce and (b) provide urban households value-for-money access to fresh farm produce.

1. Project Cut Vegetables @ Doorstep
A “Farm-to-Family BOP (Base-of-Pyramid) Project”
An AEIOU Presentation
Not for circulation

2. Summary
• Goal: To provide high-quality farm-fresh produce (fruits
and vegetables) to urban households at competitive prices
• Activity: Guide, nurture and mentor farmers to produce
fruits and vegetables efficiently. Arrange for them to be
delivered to suburban factories that would create custom-
made delivery packs for urban households.
• Process: Using cell-phones and IT-enabled computers,
logistics organizations will deliver customized packs on a
once-a-week basis to the doorstep of the consumer.
• Result: Farmers get a higher price, Consumers get a better
product!
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3. Why Fruits & Vegetables (F&V)?
• Possibly the most important part of the daily food of
an Indian. An average middle-class household spends
about Rs 1,200 per week on F&V.
• Subject to wide variations in price, as there is
constant mismatch between demand and supply. Eg.
Price of tomatoes vary from Rs 1 to 15 per kg.
• The sector is under-managed, with significant amount
wasted (estimated national average is 27 %).
• F&V Farmers guided by gut feel and dependent on
weather and middlemen.

4. Geographic Coverage
• Phase 1:
– Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad,
Pune, Ahmedabad, Kolkotta, Chandigarh – this would
be managed and operated by own staff.
• Phase 2:
– Tier 2 cities (40 of them) – this would be organized
through formal franchising and joint ventures.
• Phase 3:
– Rest of India (about 150 cities) – this would be
organized through sub-franchising

5. What is it all about?
• It’s about helping farmers grow the right portfolio of
fruits and vegetables using quality seeds and best
practices.
• Moving the produce to suburban factories, where they
are cleaned, cut, custom-packed and cold-stored.
• Delivered to local cold-storage facilities through cold-
chain logistics.
• Door delivered at pre-determined times, once a week,
on pre-payment basis.
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6. Engaging with the Farmer
• Study soil, water availability and environment.
• Help farmers determine portfolio of farm produce.
• Train farmers on best practices on ongoing basis.
• Encourage farmers to collaborate and share.
• Need for quality & conformance to standards.
• Set up fair model of economics.
• Engage the farmer (establish trust, align interests
and agree on a clearly documented plan).
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7. Engaging with the Processing System
• Identify location of processing plant (1 or 2 / city)
• Accessible to farmers (near highway)
• Near the market (about 50 kms from city centre)
• Decide on methods required to process the vegetables
– Cleaning , de-skinning
– Preserving, Packing
• Prepare custom-made packages for delivery
– Through the cold-chain logistics
– To the cold-storage network, for
– Onward doorstep-delivery to households
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8. Continuous Research
• The research has two components:
– Leverage knowledge available with
• Government labs
• University networks
– Access best practices from
• Globally renowned sources of seeds and agro-inputs
• Focused “Farmer Networking”
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9. Offer the “Farm-Value Program”
• Explain Farm-Value to Farmers
– Farm-Value = Net Present Value of Value-additions
• The AEIOU Promise:
– To increase Farm-Value by 15 % every year for 5
years
• Ensure that all stake-holders understand the
power of the concept and the spirit behind
the intent.
Not for circulation

10. Work towards increasing Farm-Value
• Present the framework
• Explain NPV, Discount Rate, Inflation
• Share information through case studies
• Make the first estimate, after a few iterations
• Identify drivers for enhancing Farm-Value
• Review every year by face-to-face program
• Involve local leaders
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11. Introduce sources of support
• In India:
– Bank support (NABARD, Bank of India, Axis Bank)
– Subsidy from Government
– Equity sources
• Outside India:
– Bank support (World Bank, ADB)
– Research
– Network of supporters
• Help the farmer work out 10-year cash-flow
under different scenarios
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12. The Farmer’s Responsibility
• Selected students make 2 pledges:
– The Commitment-to-Quality Pledge: Each farmer
commits to aspire for benchmarks/quality levels
and quantitative targets that are individually set
and mutually agreed upon.
– The Giving Back Pledge: In later years, each
farmer agrees to make an effort to give something
towards local schools and hospitals.
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13. Communication Protocols
• All interactions between farmers and supply
chain entities would be over phone, email and
“instant messaging”. Periodic face-to-face
meetings are arranged to facilitate common
orientation.
• Each farmer block is assigned
– 6 to 12 farmers
– Their total holding should be about 100 acres
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14. The Goal
• The ultimate goal is to enable and empower
the carefully selected farmers to
– Raise standards in their fields
– Co-create a model that is viable for all stake-
holders
– Include the “base of the pyramid”
• In short, create an inclusive growth model.
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15. For more information, please write to:
brenda@aeiou-inc.com
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16. Thank you for your time.
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