Crofarm - Eliminating Middlemen from Farm to Fork

Crofarm is a B2B agri-tech company which aims to create a supply chain that supports farmers and provides businesses with the freshest farm produce in the most efficient manner. Its core focus is to offer better value to farmers, reduce wastage, help them drive sales and to ensure that businesses get the best deals. With a focus on faster transits, Crofarm further fosters its core proposition, “Delivering freshness direct from farms to your neighbourhood store.” Crofarm secured $1.5 million in the seed round to expand its supply chain process.

Incepted in May 2016 by serial entrepreneurs Prashant Jain and Varun Khurana, the company has gained a strong foothold in the market within a relatively short period of time. Crofarm already has tie-ups with almost every online or retail grocery store like BigBasket, Grofers, FoodWorks, Reliance Retail, Metro and Big Bazaar as well as with local vegetable markets, stores and mandis.

With over 15 years of market experience, Varun Khurana, CEO, Crofarm is amongst the most talked-about entrepreneurs in India, having built and exited two successful ventures. Prior to co-founding Crofarm, Varun was driving technology at Grofers, India's leading on-demand delivery service connecting consumers with their local merchants.

Crofarm recently added 2,200 more farmers in areas near Bangalore and Mumbai taking the total tally of farmers to 14,000. In a span of few months, it has fostered a deep relationship farmers across the country specializing in different farm produce.

The farmers hailing from Mumbai belong to regions as diverse as Nasik, Manchar and Junnar. Areas surrounding Bengaluru belong to Mallur, hoskote, Kolar, Chikkbalapur , krishnagiri, madya, tumkur and Ooty. This association will allow Crofarm to execute its mission of creating a supply chain that supports farmers and provides businesses with the freshest farm produce in the most efficient manner. Investing farmers with the power to directly negotiate with the market releases them from the clutches of unorganised moneylending and the bureaucratic loops of Agriculture Produce Market Committees.

Commenting on the idea, Varun Khurana, CEO, Crofarm said, “Our aim has always been to drive sales for farmers, get them the best value for their produce and reduce wastage of farm harvest. Farmers are the fulcrum of the agriculture sector and it is very important to work directly with them. Better lifestyles, prices that match their hard work and the conveyance of the best produce to consumers’ neighbouring stores- these are just a few of the benefits this partnership generates.”

With a pan-India presence, Crofarm has offices in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and will also be opening regional offices to broaden its base in key geographies such as Hyderabad, Orissa and Jaipur amongst others. Crofarm is committed to increasing its customer base in the organised retail segment of the country.

Apart from routine needs of potatoes, green vegetables, onions and tomatoes, the brand is also planning to offer exotic vegetables such as broccoli, iceberg lettuce and red and yellow bell peppers.

It also aims to organise the unorganised retail sector by supplying high-quality produce to neighbourhood retailers across three metros (Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore) in the first phase and to other cities in the future. Streamlining the functioning of the unorganised agriculture sector of India, the largest employment generator, through technology and expansion across the country is another one of the core focus areas of Crofarm. In a few months, Crofarm projects to have 1,00,000 farmers and 10,000 retailers on its platform to further fortify its leadership stance in the promising agri-tech space.

To further Stream the functioning of the unorganised agriculture sector of the country, Crofarm has recently opened its three distribution centers in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. These distribution centers are supplying fresh farm produce in the most efficient manner from over 14,000 farmers from states like Karnataka, Maharashtra and Haryana. The new centers offer better value to farmers, reduce wastage, help them drive sales and ensure that businesses get the best deals. In order to generate better trade relations between farmers, businesses and consumers.

The firm is already working on supplying high-quality produce to retailers from these distribution centers.

With Crofarm, Varun aims to solve the key problems that plague Indian farmers, provide higher value to them for their harvest and also offer the freshest farm produce to retailers. In view of the immense potential in the agri-tech space, Varun sees Crofarm doing a top line of over $1 billion profitably in the next 2-3 years.