In today’s fast-paced world, where convenience often trumps quality, one woman’s vision stands as a beacon for those seeking purity and sustainability in their everyday lives. Sirisha Rajana, the visionary founder of Vanatva, has carved a path back to the roots of traditional farming practices, putting nature and health at the forefront. Inspired by her childhood experiences in a small town in Andhra Pradesh, where fresh, chemical-free food was the norm, Sirisha embarked on a transformative journey to bring authentic, organic products to the modern consumer.
Sirisha’s journey was not without its trials. Leaving behind a successful corporate career, she and her husband set out on an ambitious quest to reconnect with the land and bring authentic, organic products back into the homes of many. The struggles they faced—finding true chemical-free products, building trust with farmers, and navigating a male-dominated industry—only fueled her resolve. Their search for genuine, healthy produce led to the birth of Vanatva, a brand dedicated to chemical-free, livestock-based farming. Through perseverance, in-depth research, and partnerships with local farmers, Sirisha has built a business that supports sustainable agriculture while empowering communities. Today, Vanatva is more than a brand; it is a beacon of hope for sustainable living, agro-biodiversity, and the return to a way of life where nature takes the lead.
In this interview with Small Enterprise India, Sirisha shares her inspiring story of building Vanatva, overcoming challenges as a woman entrepreneur, and her unwavering commitment to promoting agro-biodiversity and sustainability. Read on for excerpts from the conversation that dives deep into her journey, her vision for the future, and the lives she’s touched along the way.
Q. Can you share with us the inspiration behind starting Vanatva and what motivated you to focus on chemical-free, livestock-based farming?
Thank you for asking this question. Indeed, there are several factors that led us to taking the first step in creating VANATVA. Me and my Husband come from large extended families and are from small town located in coastal Andhra Pradesh. My father was a doctor, while my Uncle’s used to manage Agricultural Farms. Hailing from a family of doctors there was a natural inclination on maintaining good health through good food, hygienic habits and focus on formal education. The large family setup in a small town gave me the privilege to experience unadulterated food, right from the Farms.
After my formal education as a Cost and Management Accountant and Masters in Business administration, I moved to Urban areas for Corporate Jobs. Post my marriage, we had the opportunity to work in various Cities and had successful corporate Jobs. However, we were never content with the Quality of Food outside. We used to frequent many formats of shops, but there was a reservation on the source and authenticity of the food. Expensive food does not guarantee good quality inputs. This prompted me to look at Food inputs differently and here the idea of VANATVA ( essence of forest) was born. We reconnected with our roots and deliberated with the farming community, SPICE Board, Export organisation personnel, Agripreneurs etc to understand the current trends in agriculture and more importantly the focus of Government in promoting this sector. We soon realised that traditional farming has great merits for the individual farmers, their ecosystem, end consumers and the entire environment in the current times. Every one talks high about it, but not many practice it for commercial reasons.
Q. What challenges did you face in establishing Vanatva as a trusted brand for healthy, organic products, and how did you overcome them?
While the intention was to come up with identifying genuine source of agricultural products, the journey to reach such areas of production was arduous. Before forming a company, we undertook market research for about 3 years to have deeper insights into the current farming practices. We got associated with the Government institutions eg: Spice Board of India as a first step and under their guidance, reached out to the genuine sources across large parts of South India. While there are few women associated in the institutions, the farming community has male majority and the journey to the various farm lands are still not women friendly. It is my philosophy, to learn from the place of food origination and this required me to travel extensively to capture the practices of farmers. This was my first challenge. Having gathered working experience from several such visits, I started with a proprietary firm and started trading in a small way. Trading activity did not have the touch of professionalism, since the farmers did not see me as a potentially large entity and agriculture is all about volumes. Repeated visits to the farm lands and FPO’s instilled confidence and trust between us. Consistent / Repeated purchases from such Farmers further encouraged them to retain the right quality in suppling fresh food products. Today, VANATVA is uniquely positioned and conveys the efforts of dealing with the right set of farmers in bringing Quality food to your doorstep. We provide food traceability and are encouraging farmers to produce using ethical agricultural practices.
Q. How do you ensure agro-biodiversity in your farming practices, and what impact has this had on the yield and income of the farmers you work with?
We are highly focussed on maintaining agro-biodiversity. One of the pillars of our company is to ensure and enrich agro-biodiversity. For the last many decades, India made a trade off using synthetic chemicals for enhancing the agricultural output. It was the need of the hour few decades ago, but certainly not the case now. The agricultural practices if not revisited immediately, would harm our agricultural ecosystem and are already witnessing drop in soil regeneration capacity.
At Vanatva, we are in the pursuit of consolidating agricultural output grown using natural farming techniques. It is music to the ears of farmers, when we introduce our company philosophy of getting associated with regenerative agricultural practices. The farmer/s are happy to embrace traditional practices and deal in organic matter, but needs a competitive market for such products. Vanatva plays a role in fulfilling the requirements of Stake holders at both the ends of the spectrum. We procure good products from farmers and provide them to end consumers, who are motivated to buy such products. There is/ will be a drop in the yield as farmers switch to natural farming, but are adequately compensated by higher prices and appreciation. The soil mixture at the farms remains healthy and provides sustainable income for the farmers, for generations to come.
Q. Vanatva offers a wide range of products, from jaggery and spices to millets and handmade soaps. How do you maintain the quality and authenticity of such a diverse product line?
At Vanatva, we started with a single product i.e Jaggery Powder. We visited the sugar city of Karnataka and observed the practices at several processing units. With the experience gained, we entered into a tie up with a FPO that was walking the talk and representing the aspiration of hundreds of farmer shareholders. There were several hiccups in the initial period of trade, however the FPO management was receptive and quick to address the issues. From here on, we moved to adjoining villages and states in identifying such institutions that are engaged in good agricultural practices. We soon realised that soil and climatic conditions play an important role on the product growth, taste and quality. In our quest to associate with the best, we tied up with farmers in several states and expanded our product offerings. We mobilised our resources to buy during the crop season to gain from the quality and price. We employ modern techniques and data management to store such large produce and do not resort to storing our products in cold storages. We believe in buying as per our budgeted handling capacity and customer base. This helps our entity in handling right quantity and with no leftovers to be disposed.
Q. As a woman entrepreneur, what challenges did you face in the startup ecosystem, and what advice would you give to other women looking to start their own businesses?
Agriculture employs women in large numbers, but not at the managerial or mid management level. The effort that goes into agriculture is enormous and it cannot be managed from airconditioned environment. There are many start ups that we get to see and hear in agriculture space from the technology perspective but not many that operate to retain the traditional forms of agricultural practices. At Vanatva, we are pushing the farmers to go back in time and bring back the age old practices of agriculture. For an enterprise to flourish ( especially during the formative stage) , it would require support from several quarters. The eco-system in such agricultural initiatives is not well developed and it requires determination from the visionaries to separately research and identify the solutions.
My suggestion to women who aspire to make an entry into business, would be have a vision in their minds and understand the characteristics that the Job would demand. An understanding of their strengths, weaknesses and Character is essential. There will be challenges on a daily basis and the situation would be dynamic. One needs to have or learn to be persistent to inch closer to their objective on a daily basis without breaking down, inspite of difficult situations. Reach out to people for help, have mentors, plan ahead and learn to be agile.
Q. How important is sustainability to your brand, and what steps are you taking to promote sustainable farming and consumption practices through Vanatva?
If we look at various steps right from production to consumption, sustainability is embedded at each of the stages. To elaborate further, if we do not invest in sustainable practices at the production site, the farmers might have bountiful produce for few years, but it would negatively impact their land in the long run. Similarly at the consumption end, if the final consumer does not evince interest in accepting good products raised in socially beneficial manner, it would not encourage farmers to stick to natural farming. At Vanatva, we recognise the importance of preserving the nature and have embedded the practices at few stages. While we do not have immediate solutions at all the stages, we are quick to implement by educating the stake holders. We are on the look out to partnering with entities that can add value and promote sustainability for benefits of farmers and ultimate consumer
Q. What role do technology and digital platforms, such as your online store with features like referrals and loyalty programs, play in the growth and outreach of Vanatva?
In this age, more and more stakeholders are closer to digital platforms than ever before. For businesses to be meaningful, technology adoption is a must. We are developing platforms to associate with people at all stages right from procurement, processing, packaging, maintaining inventory and effecting sale. There is no one single platform that we count on and it is a mixture of few channels that can effectively accommodate Users from various backgrounds. To gain the mind share of end consumers and to inspire them to use our products, we have our loyalty programmes designed accordingly. We also have plans to incentivise Users by referring to related 03rd party merchandise.
Q. How do you envision the future of organic and sustainable farming in India, and what role do you see Vanatva playing in that future?
India has the fifth largest Organic food cultivation area in the world. The economic survey 2022-23 mentions that India has 4.43 Mn Organic farmers, the highest in the world and accounts for 30% of all organic producers globally. Share of land used for organic farming in total agriculture land is 1.5% ( increased by 145% in the last ten years) – Source Invest India.
With rising disposable incomes, consciousness for chemical free and good food is growing. It is also learnt that Government is encouraging enterprises and new technology initiatives in the Organic food space. We are well placed and are forging new and inspiring partnerships with the farmers and bringing agricultural food products in their pristine conditions to the ultimate buyers. Our experience so far has been that several consumers are appreciative of quality of Vanatva’s products and first time users are trying out and gradually adopting our products. With our focus on sustainable and technological initiatives, we are already adding value to the food chain and we shall extend such value creation to several of our products. Our brand Vanatva, stands for dealing in Pure, Traditional and Sustainable agricultural products and practices. We expect it bring smiles to all the people associated with our value chain.
Q. Could you share some success stories of farmers whose lives have been transformed by working with Vanatva and adopting your farming practices?
In our Journey so far, we had the opportunity to touch many Farmers, FPO’s and Self help group women, taking great initiatives in growing good products. It is heartening to not only interact with them, but to learn about the magic that they can create with the Land. They need mindful customers, who can appreciate and consume good quality products. We forge ties with the farmers to grow chemical less / free products and share the fresh output at the door step of the final consumer in a hygenic condition. Several farmers have realised our vision and today we share a common goal of giving the best. While growing good products, farmers have a propensity to charge a higher price ( due to reduced yield), it augurs well by improving income and retaining soil regenerative capacity. The end consumer is more than willing to embrace the new output with an assurance of traceability and quality of products. This is a win -win situation. We work with Self Help group women, who are versatile and have a skill in providing excellent products using authentic ways of processing. They narrate experiences of how adulteration has become the new normal by wholesalers and traders for commercial gains. At Vanatva, we restored the authentic practices of sourcing and minimal processing of products, which resonates well with their inherent desire to provide great food products. The Self help groups see dual opportunity of earning higher income and providing trustworthy products to Vanatva.
Q. What are your plans for Vanatva in the next five years? Are there any new products, partnerships, or initiatives that we can look forward to?
We have plans to responsibly add to our capacities intertwined with technology. We are looking towards improving efficiencies in our procurement process, storage practices, packaging and last minute delivery. We will reach new geographical areas for adding new customers and consider increasing our sourcing points. In our journey, we wish to touch first time users of organic products in large numbers and share the goodness of our products. Our focus on Sustainable practices in each of our processes would increase multi-fold. Vanatva would be closer to its mission of sourcing ethically grown agricultural products from farmers and enriching the experience of house hold consumers.