Interview with Mr. Swaroop K Raveendran
Ceo of Try Once Agro Pvt Ltd
Try Once Agro Pvt Ltd is basically a venture by a group of farmers based on Chittur, Palakkad. The company began as a farmers’ collective, then evolved into a private limited company. Initially the company was a farmers group then developed it into a private limited company. Try Once is led by Mr. Swaroop K Raveendran, a qualified M.tech structural engineer. He has got exposure to organic farming from a very young age and has won the Kerala state award for his farming.
What was the inspiration for starting a company like Try Once Agro?
All the six directors now in Try Once, has their own businesses. I started a firm named Kunnampilly Organics back in 2012. The certified organic products are cultivated in my own farm. Mr. Gireesh, another director of Try Once also had an organic products selling brand. Mr. Patmanabhan and Mr. Akshay also have their own business. By Try Once, we combined products from all these enterprises under one roof. Thus, this initiative is by a group of farmers and we are adding more members into this. Try Once company was started a year ago and the products were launched on August 17th of 2021.
Where is the factory located?
The chilling and pasteurizing unit of Try Once is located in Walayar, Palakkad. The products will be loaded at midnight and will reach Ernakulam by early morning. Our supply time is between 4am and 7am. The service is now available in Palakkad and Cochin. It will be expanded to Thrissur and Kozhikode after January 2022.
What is the concept of Try Once?
Through Try Once, we are door delivering fresh, pasteurized milk and milk products straight away from the farm. They are delivered in glass bottles to avoid the usage of plastic. We are following the traditional method of animal husbandry. That is, instead of keeping them cramped up in farms, we let our cows wander through the fields, much like the old times. We also provide them with organic cattle feed. Once we source the milk from farmers under Try Once Argo farmers society, we pasteurize the milk without practices like homogenizing or adulteration and pack it into glass bottles. They will be loaded into thermal-insulated bags and then transported to other districts. The loads will depart at midnight and reach the destinations by early morning. We are following eco-friendly methods in all our ventures. Also, we follow the method of sterilizing the bottles which is not possible for the milk packed in plastic covers. We have also developed an application named Try Once for the customers to place their orders.
Products available in Try Once?
Apart from milk, we have value added products like ghee, yogurt, kova paneer and butter. There will be the launching of more products like fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, groceries, pulses, grains and meat from Try Once by next year. Customers can place their orders through application and also by contacting the company directly by WhatsApp.
What are the Future Ventures from Try Once?
We are planning to expand the business when these milk and products reach a certain number of customers. We will be launching more agricultural products like fruits and vegetables. Our intent is to supply the customers with harvested vegetables within 10 hrs of its harvest. This initiative will be launched by January 2022. Eventually there will be products like fresh fruits, eggs, groceries, pulses, grains and meat also. By this, there will be a direct link between the farmers and the customers.
By launching these products, we aim to reduce the chemicals used in them. Highly toxic chemicals are used to preserve food materials. What we can do is to avoid the involvement of chemicals by delivering them right after harvesting. Taking the case of vegetables into consideration, there is an economic side to it. That is we could get 80% of nutrients from Vegetables without losing much. Currently, 50% of the product’s value is lost through weight loss and wastage as it is delivered after almost two to three days of harvesting. By shortening this delivery time to 10 hours, the wastage and weight loss can be reduced into a very negligible rate. Try Once is planning to launch yet another product which is condensed milk. Currently people have access to only one brand and by launching this we will provide an alternative for the existing brand. We are running several tests to produce products like milk cream which is a replacement for the milk powder. Hopefully, we can expect the launch of unique products like these within one year.