As a consumer, you have a kitchen to run and you need a lot of different vegetables, fruits, groceries and other items. Different members of your family demand different food items to be arranged. All the stuff about farming and our joys is useless for you if Sanesa can not deliver regular supplies for family or if you need to keep looking for some items at different places. When we started Sanesa, it took us almost one year to learn various vegetables and their season in north Indian plains. And also to learn that as consumer you may want to have broccoli and cauliflower in June and Bhindi in January.
In the beginning for almost a year, we didn’t buy from others as we were not sure if we knew enough to assess another farmer. We had no network of trust around us as we were in new environment. Although we knew very well by then that all the varieties that are needed or demanded by customers, can not be grown in one location and by ourselves alone. So before we started buying from other farmers, we formulated a basic process to ensure that the product reaching our customers is as authentic as the one we grow at our farm. When you see our range now, it may seem quite wide but it has been built very gradually over the course of five years, almost one farmer at a time.
First step was that we will go and meet anyone we want to buy from. We will see their farm, meet their family, neighbours and other social sources of verification. Our first purchase from a farmer was 20kgs of ginger which took a 2 day journey to this farmer in Himachal and we followed our process regardless of value of transaction and have done since then. Second step here is that regardless of certification the farmer has, regardless of other people vouching for him, we will test a sample of what we have bought from that farmer. In very few cases. We do rely on farmer getting his produce tested to our satisfaction. At times, we would harvest something even before buying anything though this is not needed now. We call this – Trust but verify.
Some of our tests are available on website for you to see. Fortunately, since we have been rigorous, we haven’t had any issues of authenticity even in products that are high risk – eg., grapes. Most people do tell the truth when we meet face to face and explain how we buy.
We have remained focussed on building a network of trusted farmers across various regions and products. We have about 50 such farmers in our network now and spread across various regions. They have been met, their produce tested, verified and we have had relationships over the years to give weight to their opinions when it comes to seeking a new farmer. Adding new as well as credible sources, is much easier for us than it was in beginning as we have this network of trust with us now.
We absolutely owe it to you that whatever you buy from us is authentic and organically grown. We have been blessed with a lot of love from our customers in our journey and we would want it to be like that forever. We assure you of our commitment and care. We encourage you to follow the Trust but Verify approach when you buy from us. Getting products lab tested is not very difficult. Please do speak to us if you wish to test our products in laboratory. We will be happy to guide and share the costs of testing too.
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