Akshayakalpa Organic, India’s first certified organic dairy enterprise, has begun groundwork to launch its products in Mumbai and Pune, its co-founder and CEO, Shashi Kumar, has said.

“There is a place called Maval between Mumbai and Pune. So we have started working there to build a farmer network,” he told businessline in an online interaction. The company’s Madurai block in Tamil Nadu will begin operating soon.  

No sales or production is happening. The company needs to first build farms. It has begun now. “It will take two-and-a-half to three years to build that entire infrastructure,” he said.

Akshyakalpa has chosen Maval as it is situated between Pune and Mumbai, which will enable it to cater to both cities. However, the company is not looking at North India or any other region apart from the South. 

Going slow

“We understand South very well. For example, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. We will understand those kind of geographies very well in terms of agriculture and agronomy. And as a first attempt, we are trying to understand a little bit of north or west with Pune-Mumbai. We want to a little bit learn and go slow,” said Kumar.

On the process to get the organic infrastructure ready before launching, he said farmers first need to be convinced need to be doing organic. “Once they are convinced, we put them through a certification system. From there, it takes around two and a half to three years to certify the farmer as organic. There are a lot of processes a farmer needs to follow,” he said.  

Among the requirements is that the farmer needs to grow their feed. “In that process (of initiating into organic process), we teach them how to grow their fodder, how to grow their feed, not to tie the cows, how not to tether them, how to feed the cows 24X7,” said Kumar, whoo founded the company along with 26 other colleagues of his from Wipro. 

Portfolio expansion

Akshayakalpa insists on leaving the cattle free, prescribes when to use antibiotics or what to do with aflatoxins. “Once they are comfortable, then we link them to the market,” said the company’s co-founder.

Stating that about 2,200 farmers are supplying milk to the company in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, Kumar said over the past 12 months, the procurement has increased by 25,000-30,000 litres.

Despite the strides made in the South, Akshayakalpa is not looking at exports. We don’t have that much volume. It’s a very small company. You need to look at us as a farming company working with around 2,000 farmers,” he said.

On expanding its portfolio, the company’s co-founder said it has launched high-protein paneer in Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.  “It was launched a month and a half ago, and it is doing quite well,” he said.

Akshyakalpa offers milk, buttermilk, curd, cheese, ghee, and “a little bit of butter. It has now added virgin coconut oil, tender coconuts, greens, vegetables, mushrooms and banana to its offers. These are produced on the same farms where organic milk is sourced. 

Income for farmers

“There’s a lot of demand for vegetables and greens on our platform, but we don’t have the volume. We are trying to figure out how to grow a little bit structurally. That’s why we are expanding our portfolio slowly,” the company’s cofounder said.  

The organisation did a sampling of its buttermilk onboard Bengaluru-Chennai and Bengaluru-Hyderabad trains. It drew a good response, he said.

The average monthly payout by Akshayakalpa to a farmer is about ₹1 lakh directly. “Our fundamental belief is that if a farmer is not making money, nobody will make money. So you can’t make money by short-charging a farmer,” said Kumar.

On coming out with 26 of his colleagues and launching Akshayakalpa, he said that they decided to get back to farming as they hailed from farmers’ family and tried to change the way it is being done. “That’s what we are doing right now,” said the company’s co-founder.

On the personal front, Kumar had to face his family’s ire to leave an IT job in the US. “And for 8-10 years, my father didn’t speak to me. There are a lot of issues like that,” he said. 

Plea to consumers

“My father thought farming is risky as he was a farmer and saw the worst side of it,” said Kumar, expressing happiness over making the switch to launch Akshayakalpa.

Kumar said Akshayakalpa welcomed consumers to visit any of its organic farms. “At least one weekend, we can dedicate to finding out where our food is coming from. It’s very, very important from a consumer angle to build these ecosystems. It’s important that the consumer becomes central to this and articulates what he wants,” he said.

For Akshayakalpa, the Hyderabad market has evolved well with monthly sales of ₹5.5 crore. In Chennai, sales are ₹5.5-6 crorea month. “We have put our third cluster on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Our first cluster was in Tiptur in Karnataka’s Tumakuru district. The second was in Madurantankam block of Tamil Nadu’s Chengalpattu district,” said the company’s co-founder.  

 In Karnataka, Akshayakalpa has roped in 1,750 farmers and plans to bring 3,000 farmers in the pipeline. “Our monthly sales in Bangalore is around ₹30 crores. Karnataka also is very robust in terms of sales and farmer penetration,” he said.

Published on June 28, 2025