Established in 2012, Terra Greens Organic in India’s Hyderabad state is one of the country’s leading organic food companies. Managed by organic farmer Padmaja Bhanu and her daughter, Likitha Bhanu, Terra Greens has in place a robust network of 12,000 organic farmers hailing from Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The company offers certified organic grains and cereals to global customers.

◊ By Rutaksha Rawat

Note: To find organic products and organic ingredient suppliers in India, buy the Organic Directory 

How did you come to venture into the organic food business?

My mother is a farmer. She has always been strongly averse to the idea of chemicals in food and has been cultivating organic food since we were children — first in kitchen gardens in Assam, and later on a large scale — at our 127-acre organic farm in Telangana.

At first, we were just producing for family and friends, but there would be so much surplus left over that we’d always be looking for super stores to sell it to.

So, when I graduated from engineering college, we decided to start our own organic food company.

Where does Terra Greens Organic stand today?

In 2012, we started out with only a 400 sq. ft. warehouse, which has grown to a 40,000 sq. ft. facility fitted out with the latest processing technology.

Our main focus is on Staples. Rice is our main product, along with Pulses, Spices and Organic value-added products.
We distribute our organic products under the brand ‘Terra Greens Organic’ and are available in all channels of trade. We are also co-packers for some of the largest companies in the organic industry and are involved in everything from bulk sales to packaging and distribution and, retail.

We have our own store in Hyderabad, ‘Green Station’, in addition to our online store, greenstation.co.

Having enjoyed 10 successful years in the domestic market, we have now forayed into export. Our core competency lies in procurement, processing, packaging and value-added products.

We work in collaboration with local farmers and sustainable product companies to contribute to the sustainability movement.

What is your stance on organic integrity?

We are organic farmers first and then business people. For us, growing organic food is a passion.

So, needless to say, we are very particular about matters related to organic integrity.

Besides third party audits, we have stringent testing measures in place throughout our supply chain — from the farm to the final finished product — to ensure organic purity of our products. Regular checks and balances and direct farmer procurement enable us to function with 100% transparency.

We encourage our customers to visit India, our farms, and our factory, to observe our processes and standards.

Yours is a majority-female workforce. Is it a conscious effort to employ more women?

90% of our factory workforce comprises women and we do make a conscious effort to train, support and empower them.

Being a women-led organisation, this is something that we work towards. We focus on developing skillset, as trained people are not available easily. It is one of our goals to have more women in leadership roles and we want to be a place to nurture talent.

What is the mindset of Indian farmers? Are more of them shifting to organic farming now?

An Indian farmer, today, is far more aware of the benefits of turning organic. It’s the supply chain that needs more work as the produce needs to reach the right market at the right price so that everybody benefits.

The farmer will only reap the fruits of his labour if people invest in building a value chain which is efficient and economical.

What is Terra Greens’ greatest strength?

Our core competency in organic agriculture and the fact that we are organic farmers ourselves is our biggest strength because this has contributed to the consistently good quality of our produce and our ability to establish direct linkages with genuine organic farmers.