Belonging to a family of farmers, Sai Vardhan Goud wanted to build a business that would benefit the community.
Unsatisfied with his job in Bengaluru with a salary of Rs 22,000, he quit and returned to his village, Thotapalli, about 50 km from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.
His family grew organic mangoes and vegetables on their eight-acre farm.
Seeing an uptick in the demand for organic produce in cities, Sai started selling their mangoes and those grown by other farmers online.
“I invested Rs 5,000 to create business accounts on Instagram and Facebook and put the pictures of organically harvested mangoes on the social media platforms while offering farm-to-home delivery,” he says.
The response was phenomenal, leading to the bigger idea of a startup using locally grown farm produce.
Since his mother was known for her pickles, he decided to help her scale up and build a business out of it.
This led to the birth of Farm Org Foods, which sells different types of pickles like mango, tomato, gongura (red sorrel leaves), ginger, lemon, and amla, all freshly harvested from the farm.
“I presented pictures and videos of the process and assured the customers of the authenticity of the products,” he says.
Started in 2021, the business today earns anywhere between Rs 3-5 lakh per month, says the entrepreneur proudly.
The business that gave his mother financial independence employs 20 women today.
Sai's customers span the entire country and he has also built a strong international customer base, with orders coming in from the USA and UK.
Customer demand also led to the business expanding beyond pickles, as they offer podis (powders) also today.