In 2011, Ashish Negi quit his four-year-long career in mechanical engineering to move to the quaint village of Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh, permanently.
“While Kinnaur is known worldwide for its apples, our orchards were abandoned as there were no young members in my family to look after them. The land was losing its richness and I couldn’t bear that. It was one of the prime reasons why I decided to come back,” he shares.
Back home, as Ashish yearned to look after his ancestral orchards, he started growing apples along with other crops like wild apricots, pulses, rajma (red kidney bean), seasonal vegetables, and buckwheat.
When he went to the local market to sell his produce, he noticed the struggles faced by the tribal growers of Kinnauri apples. This realisation was a pivotal moment for him.
Kinnauri apples are one of the most expensive ones in the world and their Royal ‘Black Gold’ apples have a huge demand among buyers.
“Compared to the reddish-coloured apples, these are darker in colour and one of the costliest apples worldwide. That’s how it gets its name, Black Gold. Its taste, crunchiness, and juiciness add to its uniqueness,” he says.
However, its growers never received their fair share. Ashish observed that the farmers in the region were at the mercy of middlemen.
“The whole market system was totally corrupt and biased against farmers. At least five distributors are involved before the apples reach from the grower to the consumer. These people benefit more than the grower,” he says.
“They (farmers) would get payment almost 15 to 20 days late or sometimes after six months; and in some cases, nothing at all. Farmers got five times less than its market value,” he adds.
Ashish decided it was high time to redirect the system and launched Kayang to end the woes of farmers and bring them profits directly from consumers.
After sourcing apples directly from small farmers, the startup sorts, grades, and packages the apples. The company transports them directly to consumers across India. For this, a team of 300 people is employed.
With this, he became a saviour to at least 1,000 small farmers of Kinnaur who now supply apples directly to customers, eliminating middlemen and boosting their income by up to 20 percent.
“To be able to help them even on a very basic level is so fulfilling. We are not just helping a person, we’re helping the whole family and the community,” Ashish shares.