Banyan Roots*

Banyan Roots

“While visiting tribal villages around Udaipur (a city in Rajasthan, India) during one of my teaching campaigns, I realized that farmers are not getting paid fair enough for the hardships that they face and the amount of hard work they put in. Also, there is a need to preserve the seed diversity and traditional food and farming practices. I researched a lot about the seeds, composting and crop planning methods. Without thinking too much about the viability of my new venture, I dwelled into organic farming. My vision was to build a replicable model of community-based localization of organic food which could be grown and locally processed in southern Aravalli hills; thereby increasing biodiversity, increasing tribal farmers’ income by giving them an assured marketplace and thus implementing toxic chemical free farming.”

– Rohit Jain, Founder, Banyan Roots

Business Idea

Rohit Jain (Rohit) completed his Masters in Computer Applications from Fergusson College, Pune, in 2010 and joined an Information Technology firm at Ahmedabad. With a passionate and growing interest in sustainable farming, Rohit quit his corporate job in October 2010 and sought field experience and information on issues related to agriculture and sustainable farming. He first volunteered for the ‘Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi Project’ at the Gujarat Vidhyapeeth in Ahmedabad. He then worked in a tribal area of north Gujarat on education and livelihood issues through a project in 2011.........

Launch and Rejig

Banyan Roots was launched in Udaipur on October 30^th 2011 as an organic café cum food store for organic farm produce (Exhibit I). The two friends invested INR50,000 each aiming to work together and jointly run the café and the organic food store. The café served food made only from organic farm produce while walk-in customers could also buy organic fruits, vegetables and pulses for household consumption..............

Funding and Earning

In the first year (financial year 2012-13), Rohit used personal funds to publicize Banyan Roots by distributing pamphlets which cost INR6,000. He also put up a Banyan Roots stall in one of the major fairs in Udaipur and spent INR10,000 on it. In the second year (financial year 2013-14), he spent INR30,000 in organizing a yoga camp and a health camp to create awareness among health conscious people, which was his target customer segment. He also joined the local clubs in Udaipur – Rotary Club and Diva Women’s Club. Both clubs organized social gatherings on festive occasions like Diwali and Raksha Bandhan...............

Organic Crop Operations and Costs

At Banyan Roots, organic crop operations involve the choice of crops, crop pattern planning, farmer training, crop monitoring and harvesting, etc., (Exhibit III), leading to a positive impact on the crop supply chain (Exhibit IV)...............

Choice of Crops: Banyan Roots deals only in millets that provide high nutritional value at low-cost. Within millets it buys only pearl millets, finger millets, barley and sorghum. Millets do not require fertilizers and can grow in poor soil conditions..............

Crop Pattern Planning: Rohit and his team make plans on the pattern of millet crops to be grown and the land used for it in line with expected market requirements...............

Farmer Training: Mentors are called in to train farmers on seed selection, soil improvement, composting techniques, crop management and other indigenous farming techniques.........

Crop Monitoring and Harvesting: Potential problems are identified and avoided during the planting of crops. Neighboring farmers are contacted to ensure that no toxic input is used by the farmer. Farmers are paid only after harvesting............

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Core Values

According to Rohit, the key values which differentiate Banyan Roots from other buyers of farm produce in the region is the transparency in its working, its clear focus on sustainable farming, and its efficient handling of the entire supply chain.............

Vision for the Future

Having established Banyan Roots, Rohit started working on a larger mission to make southern Rajasthan strive towards financial, ecological, and cultural sustainability through self-sustained farmers of self-sustained villages. Towards fulfilment of his mission, he founded the Vat Vriksh Foundation – a farmer’s market in Udaipur that connects farmers and consumers. He developed a trust-based and community-based market by developing local village industries which could supply all the basic organic food products (from wheat to fruit juices) for nearby urban areas..............

Assignment Questions

I. Identify and assess the major product-market decisions taken by the entrepreneur and suggest the possible and better alternatives to those major decisions, if any.

II. ............

Exhibits

Exhibit I: Launch of Banyan Roots

Exhibit II: M/S VAT VRIKSH (Amounts in INR)

Exhibit III: Operations Flow at Banyan Roots

Exhibit IV: Banyan Roots’ Impact on the Crop Supply Chain

Exhibit V: Organic Foods in India

Banyan Roots

Synopsis

Banyan Roots was launched by Rohit Jain (Rohit) and his friend, Jayesh Mohta, in Udaipur in October 2011, as a jointly run organic café cum food store for organic farm produce. The café served food made only from organic farm produce and customers could also buy organic fruits, vegetables and pulses. Later, the two split and Rohit moved to a new upmarket location in Udaipur to run the organic food store alone. Initially, Rohit distributed pamphlets and showcased his products at a food exhibition in one of the major fairs in Udaipur. Next year, he organized a yoga camp and a health camp to create awareness among health conscious people, which was his target customer segment. He used personal funds and earned minor profits only through his stalls at various food festivals. Banyan Roots enables tribal organic farmers to connect with consumers – it trains farmers in organic farming, indigenous sustainable practices and value addition and then buys their healthy products at fair prices
to sell to consumers through its own stores.

Rohit’s vision is to “build a replicable model of community-based localization of organic food which could be grown and locally processed; thereby increasing biodiversity, increasing tribal farmers’ income by giving them an assured marketplace and thus implementing toxic-chemical-free farming.” To network, Rohit joined the Organic Farming Association of India. He got Sewa Mandir – an Udaipur based voluntary organization – to sponsor farmer training for improving yield through sustainable practices. Corporates also supported its outreach activities with CSR funds. It was difficult to get urban middle- and upper-class customers in Udaipur to pay premiums for organic produce. Rohit chose not to charge a premium for organic produce in the hope that higher volumes will be transacted through him. However, it started becoming difficult for Banyan Roots to make ends meet. By the fourth year of Banyan Roots’ inception, Rohit had used all his savings from his earlier job in Ahmedabad and had also borrowed about INR1.4 million from his friends and family to invest in market operations. This case let enables a discussion on the various options for the survival and growth of Banyan Roots.

Prerequisite Conceptual Understanding

• Teece DJ (2010) Business Models, Business Strategy and Innovation, Long Range Planning, Vol.43, No.10, p.172-194

Pedagogical Objectives

The case covers a social cause business startup that aims to become a sustainable business. The case illustrates the difficulties of running a social enterprise where the customer is not charged a premium for a better product. The entrepreneur has to find a sustainable way to run a business that meets a compelling social objective and benefits both farmers and customers. The case illustrates dilemmas and unique tradeoffs in product and product-mix strategy. It is also useful as an assignment case.

Case Positioning and Setting

This case study can be used in:

• BBA and MBA courses in Social Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Product Innovation.
• Strategy sessions on Inclusive Business Models.

Assignment Questions

I. Identify and assess the major product-market decisions taken by the entrepreneur and suggest the possible and better alternatives to those major decisions, if any.
II............

Teaching Plan

The case can be covered adequately in about 90 mins. The case discussion can be followed by a discussion on Garv toilets which uses free usage model and a video on mPaani2. The case can be run as an early case in a Social Entrepreneurship course or in a course on Entrepreneurship with students being given the case as an assignment to submit in class...............