Krishi Star

Krishi Star, a for-profit social enterprise founded in 2012 and headquartered in Mumbai, operates with the mission to alleviate poverty for smallholder farmers in India. The company was co-founded by Bryan Lee, an MBA graduate from the Kellogg School of Management. Lee's journey began during a fellowship in India in 2011, where his interactions with farmers revealed their struggles with market access and price instability, motivating him to establish the venture. He initially studied engineering with the goal of becoming a rocket scientist but later shifted his focus to international development after various entrepreneurial and volunteer activities.

The enterprise functions as a food brand that markets and sells natural food ingredients sourced from a network of farmer-owned food processing units. Its core business model revolves around granting farmers greater ownership of the food value chain, a departure from their typical role as small producers in volatile commodity markets. Krishi Star partners with farmer-owned producer companies (FPCs) to establish and operate processing units, utilizing a joint venture model or assisting FPCs in securing bank financing. This approach addresses the FPCs' lack of capital, management expertise, and market linkages by providing long-term sales contracts and utilizing their idle processing capacity. By creating a more direct link between production and consumption, the company helps stabilize and increase farmer incomes.

Krishi Star's product portfolio initially focused on processed tomato products like whole peeled tomatoes and puree, sold in bulk to institutional clients such as hotels, restaurants, and caterers in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, and Goa. The company has since expanded to include other offerings like sun-dried tomatoes and dried oyster mushrooms. The business operates on a three-phase model: direct sourcing and micro-entrepreneur training in the production phase; quality control, traceability, and efficient logistics in the supply chain phase; and a focus on sustainability and farmer well-being in the demand phase. In 2016, the company secured an undisclosed amount in seed funding to expand its marketing, sales, and supply chain capabilities.

Keywords: agri-business, smallholder farmers, farmer-owned value chain, social enterprise, food processing, market linkages, rural development, sustainable agriculture, impact investing, farmer producer organizations, processed foods, supply chain management, direct sourcing, agricultural economics, poverty alleviation, food ingredients supplier, institutional buyers, Indian agriculture, joint venture financing, micro-entrepreneur training