‘Pioneering sustainable living choices by connecting communities and markets’. That’s the mission of Last Forest as they work with the Adivasi communities in the Nilgiris to help process, brand and market their produce of wild honey, essential oils, and beeswax products.

This is a heart warming story of three friends from the social impact space who traveled to the Nilgiris in the Western Ghats of South India for a project and never looked back. Disenchanted with attending meetings and writing reports in the city they longed to do meaningful work away from it, in rural India. A project involving wild honey collection in the Nilgiris provided the right break for them to explore a more fulfilling path. “Beekeeping is a very sanitised version of honey production and very different from wild honey collection. In the first couple of months we were in the Nilgiris, we realised how unique it was and how integral it is to the lives of the people who managed it. This understanding opened many other fulfilling opportunities for us to explore!” says Mathew John, Founder-Director of Keystone and Managing Director of Last Forest, two of the three organizations that were born from this early discovery.
The Idea of Holistic Development
In an era when the development sector in India was focusing on education, healthcare, gender equality and child welfare, the trio had stumbled upon the need for something bigger – a holistic approach to community development. “Because honey is so core to the existence of the adivasi community in the Nilgiris, working with it required a different approach. Though the honey is collected only 3 months in a year, the community comes alive during this period. As we delved deeper we realized that they were the stewards of the forest ecosystem, protecting it from complete destruction and they needed support to keep doing that,” says Mathew. This revelation urged Mathew, Snehlata Nath and Pratim Roy to start the Keystone Foundation to focus on the welfare of these tribal communities.

A Special Biosphere
Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve is India’s first and foremost biosphere reserve with a heritage rich in flora and fauna. The reserve encompasses three ecoregions and extends across three states, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. It’s home to tribal groups such as the Badagas, Toda, Kotas, Irulla, Kurumba, Paniya, Adiyan, Edanadan Chettis, Allar, and Malayan. lot has happened in the 30 years since Keystone was started. The Foundation works as a non-profit with the community on agriculture, forest produce, raising nurseries, sanitation, water access, climate change and more.

A New Entity – Last Forest
Meanwhile, the need to reach the communities’ indigenous products to the markets necessitated hiving off the marketing arm into a separate legal entity and Last Forest was born. This wasn’t an easy decision but it needed to be done. “It’s tough for a nonprofit organisation to make significant, large-scale impact. Product development, marketing and profit-making required a shift in mindset. Hence the decision to hive off into a separate legal entity. The vision for the new entity was to drive the change while aligning with the ethics and principles of the parent organisation,” says Mathew.

Uniqueness of Wild Honey
Next they focused on the product, packaging, and distribution. Pure honey from the wild varies in taste, density, colour and other parameters. “Many customers are so tuned to the mass-produced honey that’s out in the market and they tend to believe that’s the right taste. Last Forest’s unique proposition is that even the second bottle you buy won’t taste the same as the first, because wild honey is collected from different sources, geographies, climates, flowers, and so on. So each bottle comes with its own unique taste.”

Marketing the Wild Story
“We had to take the story of these people to the customers through their indigenous products. And for this narrative to make a difference, the branding and packaging of these products needed to be as good as any commercial product out there in the market. We have made all efforts to make them attractive and engaging while maintaining the high quality of the produce. Last Forest customers now return, not just because they would like to support indigenous people, but also because of our product quality,” asserts Mathew.

Catering to the Customer
Last Forest has differentiated product packaging to reflect the different species of bees that honey is collected from. The aim is to cater to customers’ preferences without compromising on authenticity. “In India especially, people approach honey from a health perspective. For example, crushed pepper is added to honey for medicinal purposes. So we’ve infused pure pepper extract into honey to offer customers a variation. We try and pique customer interest by providing them a range they can try.” Aadhimalai, the producer company belonging to the group, takes on the back end of production, capacity building and governance. Their production centres are located in Pudukkad, Bangalapadigai, Banagudi and Pillur villages. So that leaves Last Forest free to focus on the marketing of the forest produce.

An Authentic Range of Products
Apart from raw and flavored honey, Last Forest has also ventured into byproducts like beeswax. Bees use these waxy seals to cover the honey cells and these are collected during the honey extraction process. This raw, beeswax is cleaned and processed for use in the cosmetics industry and in other crafting trades. Though the cosmetics industry has shifted from beeswax to use paraffin, there is still demand for good quality beeswax. “In fact, beeswax has much more value than honey”, chuckles Mathew. Last Forest makes lip balms, therapeutic balms and soaps from beeswax. Drawing from the rich reserve of medicinal plants and trees of the Nilgiris, Last Forest also markets essential healing oils. Eucalyptus, Lemongrass, Tea Tree, Wintergreen, Clove etc., are excellent sources of oils with therapeutic value. Other uses include addressing skin conditions and inducing sleep.

The Shift from Non-Profit to For-Profit
It’s amazing to see the growth of this brand that has its roots in a nonprofit organisation. Surely there would have been challenges aplenty? “Yes, the shift from non-profit to profit was very tough. As a nonprofit, numbers are not top of mind. But for a private company, one has to look at the bottom line, as we need to pay the rent and salaries. While as a non-profit we could accept grants, we had to generate our own money here. Also, the compliance requirement in a private limited company is very different. But the biggest discussions have been around losing our sense of purpose. We had to keep in mind that whatever we are doing, through Keystone, Aadhimalai and Last Forest, is to support the community. So to succeed we had to first build in these principles into our daily activities and people at Last Forest. We have had to evolve and learn along the away,” confirms Mathew.

Impact of ‘Development’
Has modern development made a difference in the tribal communities and their identity as guardians of the forests, we wonder. Mathew answers frankly, “The last 10 years of climate change has messed up the ecosystem. Access to social media and YouTube through mobile phones has impacted the community. Aspirations have changed. The younger generation believes they need a bike and a concrete home to have a good life. They prefer rice to their staple food, so much so that there’s no protein in their diet anymore! The present generation is facing hard choices. Whether they will still keep their identity or get subsumed into the urban landscape in the next 25 years is to be seen, Our role is to facilitate, strengthen and provide choices,” concludes Mathew.