FICCI FLO, under the leadership of its 43rd National President, Ms. Puja Garg, hosted a thought-provoking conversation with Mr. Vilas Shinde, Chairman & MD, Sahyadri Farms, and moderator Satyajit Hange, Co-Founder Farmer, Two Brothers India Farms. The meaningful conversation encouraged women entrepreneurs to look beyond farming and explore higher-value opportunities across the agri-business value chain, where processing and downstream activities can capture a larger share of the economic value.
The conversation went beyond theory to the real economics, decisions and challenges of building a sustainable agri-business. Also, the discussion highlighted Sahyadri’s efforts to strengthen women farmers through ownership, decision-making and financial participation. Mr. Shinde discussed the challenges he faced, from being an individual farmer to building one of India’s leading integrated horticulture enterprises connecting over 33,000 registered farmers, primarily women, across Maharashtra.
He detailed how Sayadri evolved from a small grape-farming group in 2004 to an integrated horticulture enterprise focused on export and domestic markets, with revenue of 2,600 crore and 10% EBITDA last year. The discussion covered his strategic decision to form a Farmer Producer Company (FPC) under the Companies Act rather than a traditional cooperative, his handling of a major financial crisis in 2011 due to European regulatory issues with chloromequat, and his approach to building trust with farmers while maintaining professional independence from government intervention.
Mr. Shinde explained Sayadri’s business model, which spans B2B exports, B2C consumer brands, and manufacturing for companies like Hindustan Lever, with plans to list its subsidiary in an IPO in 2027-28. He emphasized their focus on horticulture crops like grapes, tomatoes, and citrus fruits, aiming to help farmers achieve at least 6 lakh rupees annual income from 3 acres of land, with plans to expand to 1 lakh farmers within five years.
The real-world experience of Sahyadri Farms demonstrated how collective action, professional management, value addition, and direct market linkages can strengthen farmer incomes and build resilient enterprises.
Key Takeaways
- Agriculture must be approached as a business with professional systems, market understanding, and entrepreneurial thinking.
- Collective scale creates competitiveness across post-harvest management, processing, supply chains, and markets.
- Focus on building depth in the product, quality, and market before expanding.
- Processing is not just value addition; it can also protect against market volatility.
- B2B and B2C are complementary, creating multiple routes to market and greater resilience.
- The consumer is the real king: quality, food safety, traceability, price, and trust determine sustainable market access.
- Trust is built through action and consistent delivery over time.
Impact & Outcome
The session offered participants a practical understanding of how agriculture can evolve from traditional farming into a scalable, market-driven business. Beyond the Farm Gate webinar encouraged participants to view agriculture through an entrepreneurial lens, with greater emphasis on quality, food safety, traceability, market intelligence, and consumer needs.
Overall, the conversation strengthened awareness of the untapped business potential beyond the farm gate and inspired participants to identify opportunities in processing, supply chains, exports, branding, and other segments of the agricultural value chain. The webinar is a part of FLO Agriculture, Agro-Based & Food Processing Industry, led by Ar. Minal Jain, Initiative Lead, and Radhika Gupta, Co-Lead.