Sahyadri Farms Post Harvest Care Limited (SFPHCL), the subsidiary of Sahyadri Farmer Producer Company (FPC) has become India’s first FPC subsidiary to raise overseas growth capital of ₹s 310 crore. The investors include Incofin, Korys, FMO, and Proparco.  

Plans with capital raised

SFPHCL is India’s largest grape exporter, largest tomato processor and also the only FPC subsidiary, and the capital raised is intended to further grow the farmers’ company. Sahyadri Farms wants to expand its processing capacity for fruits and vegetables-based products, set up a biomass plant to generate electricity from process waste, and enhance its infrastructure, like packhouses.

“The idea of Sahyadri Farms is to unite farmers and make them think like professional entrepreneurs. We are building a sustainable, scalable, and profitable organization for all our stakeholders by making farming profitable and viable activity for each small and marginal farmer” said Vilas Shinde, founding farmer and Managing Director of Sahyadri Farms.

Investors’ involvement

Rahul Rai, Partner at Incofin India said, “Incofin feels privileged to lead this investor consortium and its partnership with Sahyadri Farms. This is to support its spread as a global role model of a partnership-based approach to farming”.

Michael Jongeneel, CEO of FMO said, “We expect this first international equity investment in a farmer-led organization in India to help Sahyadri Farms reach even more farmers and set a blueprint for further growth in the industry.’’

Françoise Lombard, CEO of Proparco stated, “This investment in a leading Indian agricultural company committed to a responsible approach will generate many positive social and environmental impacts. Nearly 15,000 farmers will be able to enter a modern supply chain, with access to regenerative farming practices and quality equipment, enabling them to increase yields and quality of their production” Lombard added Sahyadri Farms will be able to implement concrete measures to adapt to climate change, but also to mitigate it by increasing its share of renewable energy production to more than 50 per cent, and finally, to implement its zero waste policy“.

Hari Subramanian, Partner Korys India said, “ We are very excited to be a shareholder of Sahyadri Farms as it has a sustainable business model with an emphasis on both consciousness towards the farmers’ community and on the environment”.  

Sahyadri FPC was started in 2010 by a group of 10 grape-growing farmers led by Vilas Shinde to collectively produce Global G.A.P certified grapes for export to Europe. Today, Sahyadri has grown to become a multi-crop, multi-process, and multi-product entity, providing a digitally-enabled integrated value chain to over 18,000 registered farmers covering 31,020 acres and 9 crops.

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