Aadathodai, thavasi, dill, mudakkathaan .... These are native greens says Sriram and adds, “ Aaduthodai cleanses your lungs of toxins. Dill or sombu keerai enhances digestion and is good as garnish in salads.” As he talks to me, he shows me the images of the various greens on his phone. “This is the country coriander we grow. It is so aromatic that if you leave it in a room the entire room smells refreshing. The leaves are small, compared to the hybrid ones available in the market, but high on flavour.”
G. Sriram Prasad is the founder and CEO of keeraikadai.com, an e-commerce company that sells 40 plus varieties of keerai across Coimbatore. He networks with 15 farmers in the region in Irugur, Sitra, Veeryampalayam, Thondamuthur, Thadagam and Telungupalayam, besides Pollachi. The prerequisites that he looks for are simple — fertile soil, good source of water, and natural manure. “We are particular that the greens are not grown near open drains or sewage. Our aim is to promote the concept of food as medicine. And, keerai is the best way to begin,” he says and gives examples of how mudakkathaan keerai provides relief from joint pains, while kasini keerai helps to control diabetes.
It’s been over seven months since they started their operations. The keeraikadai app, available on Android and iphone, where you can pre-order, has crossed 8000 downloads. Says Sriram, “ For over 10 years, I was designing e-commerce websites and managing client relations for customers across Europe, the U.S., and Central Asia. The spark to start an e-commerce company came from there.” His brother, G. Sriram Subramaniam, who heads the operations at keeraikadai.com was a graphic designer and animator. He now runs a diary farm with native breeds and cross breeds at Aalandurai. The brothers, who come from a farming background in Madurai, are trained as organic agriculturists at TNAU. They are also inspired by Nammalvar’s natural farming methods.
Country coriander
With keeraikadai.com, they want to bridge the gap between farming and technology, and empower farmers to market their produce better. They have also started leasing farmers’ lands on contract basis where they take care of the expenses, seeding, maintenance, and the farmers get commission based on the yield. Currently, keeraikadai supplies 850 bunches of greens across the city and they hope to touch 4, 000 and more.
In a seven-acre farm in Irugur belonging to farmer Thangavelu, Sriram grows varieties of greens. “We learnt of so many native species of greens as we interacted with farmers. We only know of eight or nine varieties at best, but there are over 40 kinds of keerai we supply. We have kadugu keerai, red ponnaganni, vallaarai, country palak, pirandai, pasalai (red and green), chakravarthi keerai, karisilanganni (yellow and white) and more. We also have an omelette keerai! We add it to omelettes, instead of onions. We also learnt traditional methods of cooking these greens from the farmers. We grow pepper thulasi and mint thulasi that can be consumed raw. Then, there is chukkan which is slightly bitter but cleanses the intestines.”
The app displays every single variety of green with an accompanying photograph and its health benefits. There are keerai varieties to maintain and reduce diabetes, blood pressure, heart problems, and to enhance vision, and memory. There is also a section on recipes. “We use our FB pages, wesbite, and the app to reach out. The positive response has been a great motivator.”
Mudakkathaan keerai
They ensure that the fresh greens reach the customers within two hours from the time they are harvested. The first batch of greens harvested between 5 am and 6.30 am is ready for sale by 7 am at their exclusive store at Saibaba Colony. They also have mobile displays at 25 apartments in Coimbatore where a van arrives carrying the greens in the morning as soon as they are harvested from the farm . Similarly, in the evening, the greens are picked between 3 pm to 4.30 pm. and are available for sale by 5 p.m.. They also supply to hotels and hospitals.
Sriram says the idea to start keeraikadai came from inside, from their backyard. It was not an ‘out-of- the box’ idea. “We revamped an old idea with technology. We set up a physical store to build trust and engage with customers. (Incidentally, if you stop by at the Saibaba Colony store in the evening, you can relish crisp keerai vadais and piping hot keerai soup). We give away free keerai seeds to children who visit our store. We also take them to the farm where they get their hands dirty and learn farming. That’s the best way to initiate them to building a green revolution.”
Green highlights
Open stores at Vadavalli, Peelamedu, Saravanampatti, and Podanur.
Open distributorship across all pin codes in the city. Anyone can become a distributor even as part time as it requires only three hours of time
Greens are also cleaned and packed at an extra cost
They plan to replicate the business model in Chennai and Bengaluru once they get investors (They have Ramya Gupta, operation head in Chennai who currently sells their keerai twice a week at Ashoka Pillar)
To know more, call 70949-50005/ 99948-39076
Visit: www.keeraikadai.com or go to their facebook page keeraikadaifarm
