Aruvadai organic stop on ECR

At software engineer Satish Kumar’s Aruvadai, you can find all things organic

When Satish Kumar moved from his village near Thanjavur to Chennai, to become a software professional, he thought he had left behind his dreams of starting a farm. But luck favoured the 31-year-old and last July, he leased 17 acres of land near Madhuranthagam, where he started to grow mango trees and vegetables like snake gourd, chillies, spinach potatoes, etc. Today, Kumar is the proud owner of Aruvadai (harvest), an organic store in Palavakkam, ECR. “We get our vegetables delivered in the wee hours of the morning. We then take them to Thiruvanmiyur, Besant Nagar or Marina beach, to sell at stalls. We also stock them at the store,” he says. Born into an agricultural family, it is no surprise that Kumar is fond of farming. “I always wanted to farm but never had the financial support. I saved up to lease this. I have known several others who’ve started a venture but quit half way, mainly because they lacked marketing. I want to focus on marketing and set up a website so people can buy online,” he says.

Of eggs and dal
Besides vegetables, the store also stocks different varieties of millets like foxtail, kudo and poroso. Also look out for their ponni boiled rice. Their different dals, jaggery, honey and oils are fast moving. “Everything is sourced directly from farmers in Thanjavur. We also get dals from down South and Andhra Pradesh. We co-ordinate with some small-scale industries and get wheat flour from them,” says Kumar. With around 450-500 products in the store, Kumar says the latest addition is free-range eggs. The store is also lined with racks filled with snacks, pickles and podis, which Kumar informs us are hand made. Currently, they supply their vegetables to different stores in the city like Terra, Dhanyam, Gramiyum and others.
Podis start from `30, millets from `80. Details:  9790933206

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