During the Corona pandemic, many businesses have permanently closed due to losses caused by the general shutdown. However, one such success story is that of two engineers from Indore, Madhya Pradesh who started a new, health-focused business in the middle of the pandemic. Subatra Upadhyay and Hariom Yadav founded ‘Roots’, a company that provides pure and natural food products sourced directly from local farmers without intermediaries. They traveled to 90 cities in 16 states of India to find and select over 150 pure and natural foods, including millets, ragi, barley, dry fruits, and spices. They even identified famous products from each city of the country and brought products from that city, such as cashews from Mangalore, grapes from Nashik, cloves from Kanyakumari, rice from Chhattisgarh, and grains from various states. ‘Roots’ has been profitable for the last four months through online and direct sales, and the founders are forecasting monthly sales of up to Rs. 10 lakh by this year. Through this, their company can make a profit of up to Rs. 3 lakh per month. They also emphasize clean food made with natural ingredients that are free of pesticides and harmful chemicals. ‘Roots’ is a success story of entrepreneurship in the middle of a pandemic that has affected public health and businesses across the world.
image source, SAMEER KHAN/BBC
Just like how public health has been affected during the Corona period, many businesses have closed permanently due to losses due to the general shutdown. But only a few survived the downturn and returned to growth.
This is the story of one such winner.
Two engineers from Indore, Madhya Pradesh started a new business with a penchant for entrepreneurship as their monthly income stagnated during the Corona period.
Indore-based engineers and friends Subatra Upadhyay and Hariom Yadav Ageeyoor started a business focused on people’s health. Now the industry is climbing the ladder of success.
How did the idea come about?
During the Corona period, Subatra’s 81-year-old grandmother contracted the infection. Patty recovered within 10 days from the viral infection that claimed many lives. It helped, said Patty, ‘an old clean diet’. Patti explained to Subatra where to get this food.
This is where the idea of providing ‘pure food’ to the people came from the minds of two engineers Subatra Upadhyay and Hariom Yadav from Indore.
The duo decided to bring pure natural food products from every corner of the country to Indore, the cleanest city in India.
Both Subatra Upadhyay and Hari Om Yadav traveled to 90 cities in 16 states of the country for a whole year. From these cities they selected more than 150 pure natural foods including millets, ragi, barley, dry fruits, spices.
They contracted with the local farmers there and brought these products to Indore.
They identified the famous products of each city of the country and brought products from that city. As Mangalore cashews are popular, cashews were chosen from there.
They also chose grapes from Nashik, walnuts from Kashmir, cloves from Kanyakumari, ashwagandha from Rajasthan, cardamom and pepper from Tamil Nadu.
At the same time, they selected grains like Kelvaraku, Chamai, Kangini, Sanwa, Godo, Senna from various states.
They ordered rice from Chhattisgarh. In order to maintain the ‘purity’ of this produce, direct contracts were made with organic farmers without intermediaries.
This is how their company ‘Roots’ started.
image source, SAMEER KHAN/BBC
The first industry to be paralyzed by Corona
Before starting Roots, these engineering graduates ran a fitness business.
For the year 2019-20, they have tied up with 60 gyms in Indore to bring healthy changes in people’s daily lifestyle and provide services including gym booking, yoga training, protein diet.
But due to the closure of gymnasiums during the general shutdown, the investment of 5 lakh rupees was lost.
Then they decided to close the business permanently and start a business that could not be affected by any epidemic in the desire to do something else.
From Birth to Profitability of ‘Roots’ Company
Subatra Upadhyay and Hariom Yadav, founders of ‘Roots’ explore where to find healthy food in 2021 and how to bring it to Indore.
Complete planning was done with the information obtained from the survey. The journey started from Kashmir.
“Starting from Kashmir, we reached Maharashtra. There, we spoke to organic farmers on behalf of the government. We developed a comprehensive plan for them,” said Hariom.
“We went to 16 states across India. We discussed with various farmers how we can bring their produce to Indore. We created a complete supply chain from the produce being grown on the farm to being brought to the stores for sale. It took us one and a half years to complete.”
“Our budget was initially Rs 25 to Rs 30 lakh, but so far we have invested Rs 38 to Rs 40 lakh,” he says.
Now both of them have started earning profit in this business. A separate website for this purpose will also be launched soon.
“For the last four months, our net profit has been increasing continuously through online and direct sales. We are forecasting monthly sales of up to Rs. 10 lakh by this year. Through this, our company can make a profit of up to Rs. 3 lakh per month,” he said.
image source, SAMEER KHAN/BBC
Pure oil
Hariom Yadav, co-founder of ‘Roots’, says that heart attacks have become a common problem among the youth.
We emphasize clean food made with natural ingredients that are free of pesticides that harm the soil and the body. These products are rich in nutrients that are beneficial for the body and health. The immune system is strong.
“Most of the food used is oil. There is a government guideline that up to 30 per cent of it can be mixed with palm oil. But no one knows what is being mixed with it,” said Hariom.
“We extract the oil from pure mustard without any chemicals. The oil available in the shops is said to be pure. But the oil extracted this way is very healthy,” he said.
Friends story
Subatra Upadhyay and Hariom Yadav say they went to the same college in the same bus in 2012 and worked together in the same branch.
“We became close very quickly because we sat next to each other on the bus ride to college.”
“We studied engineering but didn’t get jobs. So we thought we should do something different,” they said.
Subatra says that he did not get a job immediately after completing his college studies. At the same time, Hariom Yadav said he got a job as a fire safety officer at Amazon’s office in Indore.
image source, SAMEER KHAN/BBC
Customers who want healthy products
Housewife Monika Sharma, who came to shop at ‘Roots’ store, started taking healthier food than before after Corona.
And we are eating healthier foods than before to keep our immunity strong. We take good food like bread, vegetables, pulses, grains.
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