A mother-daughter duo stands out
In 2019, Jayadevi Cholayil decided to sell mangoes from their 81-acre farm in Vengal near Red Hills. The main idea was to prevent waste. Her daughter, Susmera Cholayil, gave a helping hand at the shop in Anna Nagar, Chennai. What began as a small shop is now a daily fresh produce market catering to Anna Nagar and beyond under the name Farm to Table.
The origins of the farm
The farm was bought by Susmera’s grandfather, Dr. V. P. Sidhan, the founder of Medimix, 27 years ago. Whenever he travelled, he used to bring the seeds back and plant them in the farm. Thus, today it has as many as 1,650 mango trees with 20 different varieties of mangoes. The total number of plants in the farm is – 10 lakh!
According to Susmera, initially, they grew a lot of medicinal plants. The farm also has a lot of animals – emus, dogs, chickens, and cows. They get A2 milk from the cows and free-range eggs from the chickens.
Susmera’s parents started organic farming and they grow 8–10 varieties of spinach alone along with the seasonal varieties of fruits and vegetables. Some of the exotic produce that comes from the farm are dragon fruit, grapefruit, zucchini, bok choy, yams and sweet potatoes. Susmera says that whatever can be grown in the Chennai weather is tried out.
Rapid growth – COVID effect!
When they started, organic produce from their farm alone was sold. Slowly they encouraged local vendors and small businesses to sell their jams, pickles and more at the shop. The shop also procures items from around the country such as avocados from Kodaikanal, and yams and chakka from Kerala. Cold-pressed oils are also made and sold.
During COVID, thanks to an article in The Hindu and thanks to people wanting to go to shops and wanting to stay healthy, the shop gained traction. Now there is a WhatsApp group that sends out information twice a week about the availability of produce. Recently they have also started a website and send out orders through Porter. The shop has added more items to its catalogue – healthy snacks such as sesame and peanut laddoos, which are made fresh every day at the farm, and gulkand from the roses.
Susmera started working at Medimix and then slowly helped with social media for the shop. Now she is fully immersed in the shop and takes care of all the front-end work and the marketing aspects, whereas her parents focus on the agriculture side.
What makes them different from others? Susmera says that their produce is 100% organic, which can be seen, or tasted, rather.
She says, “Our mangoes may not be spotless on the outside but inside they are as delicious as any”.
Additional activities on the table…
Farm to Table takes farm visits for a minimum of 15 people. The visitors are taken on a tractor ride, and an in-house meal from the farm produce is provided.
The main challenge that they face is the unpredictable quantity of supply and demand. Also, they do not get a lot of non-seasonal produce. Transporting produce is another challenge, and Susmera says that people do not understand why pure organic produce has to be priced high. She adds that despite being organically grown, the produce is priced reasonably, despite their having to travel more than 100 km back and forth to bring the fresh produce bi-weekly to the store. Whenever there are leftovers, they are handed over to the NGO – The Banyan, which they have been supporting for over 25 years. Extra produce is also sold to office staff.
Sustainability, holistic farming and waste reduction are followed at every step, both at the farm and at the shop.
Contact details:
Phone: 075501 55005
