Amul-model farming co-operative rolls out Farmfed-brand spices products

Southern Green Farming and Marketing Multi-State Cooperative Society, a Kozhikode-based cooperative society operational since 2008, has launched new spices’ and curry masala products under the brand Farmfed, that include Agraharam Sambar Powder, Sambar Powder, Chicken Masala, Meat Masala, Fish Masala, Chilly Powder, Turmeric Powder, Coriander Powder, and Bajji Masala.

Cine Actress Navya Nair launched the products at an event in Kochi.

The products are manufactured at Farmfed’s new production unit with modern facilities at Kinfra Megafood Park in Kozhinjampara, Palakkad. Chairman Rajesh Chandrasekharan Pillai said advanced machinery for product mixing and packing has been installed at the unit for increasing efficiency and ensuring quality. The factory has the capacity for six tons of output per day. The full-scale production and marketing have been started following the success of the three-month-long production trial.

The products will be made available across Kerala during the first phase and the operations extended to Tamil Nadu subsequently. Already over 300 people are employed in the factory and for the marketing activities, the chairman said.

Farmfed, which functions on the Amul model, will directly distribute the product stocks to the business centres opened at Palakkad, Thrissur, Chalakudy, Angamaly, Guruvayur, Ernakulam, Thodupuzha, Pala, and Thiruvalla, besides the stock points set up in districts.

“By direct distribution, the profits taken by middlemen can be avoided. It will result in farmers getting a fair price for their produce, besides making available the products to consumers at the lowest possible prices. We hope to rake in Rs 600 crore through the sale of value-added Farmfed products in the next five years,” Rajesh Chandrasekharan Pillai said.

The country’s branded spices market is expected to reach Rs 50,000 crore by 2025. The promoters of Southern Green Farming Society said that even if the society gets a small percentage of its share in South India, it can exceed its growth targets.

Being a multi-state cooperative society registered under the Co-operative Department, Union Ministry of Cooperation, it is allowed to expand its operations to any state in India. “Apart from Kerala, we’re already into agricultural activities in Tamil Nadu, and will soon expand activities to states like Andhra and Karnataka,” Managing Director Akhin Francis.

Rajesh Chandrasekharan Pillai noted that India has the second largest arable land in the world and is the leading producer of spices, milk, tea, pulses, etc., and that such favourable conditions point to the huge potential in the sector.

“The focus is on agriculture. Agriculture alone can create vast employment opportunities in the country in proportion to the enormous population. Agriculture is the primary livelihood of 65% of our people. The central government, too, has formulated plans to double agricultural income in 2022-23 itself by increasing productivity. It is in this context that the Southern Farming and Marketing Multi-State Cooperative Society is making a major foray into the agricultural, processing, and marketing sectors,” he said.

That 85% of farmers in India are small-time producers points to the need for cooperative ventures in the sector. Keeping this in mind, an emphasis has been placed on the cooperative model type of functioning. Vice-Chairman Anoop Thomas said by the end of this year, the society aims to do spice crop farming on more than 1000 acres. Out of this, 500 acres are already under cultivation. The most important of these is the cardamom cultivation being done on 300 acres in Kumali, part of the world-famous Cardamom Hills of Idukki. Similarly, Farmfed is cultivating Red Lady papaya on a five-acre land at Kechery, Thrissur, and has fish farming on 16 acres at Vallarpadam, on the outskirts of Ernakulam. Farmfed has plans to develop farm tourism facilities in places like Kumaly and Kuttikanam and enter the agri tourism sector.

The Southern Farming and Marketing Multi-State Cooperative Society was started in Kozhikode in 2008 with an aim to exploit the potential of unique spice and agricultural crops in Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu, and also seafood farming in Kerala’s coastal areas. 

Farmfed envisions a model for the future where employees become members of society. It not only ensures self-sufficiency and clean produce in the food and labor sectors but also gives every worker ownership of the enterprise.