India suffers from ‘food loss’ which is during growing, harvesting and distribution phase, while the developed countries have more ‘food waste’ which is at the consumer level. The irony is that only a few decades ago, we didn’t have enough food. And that we also have malnutrition and farmer distress even today.
In 2022 India lost about 5–13% of its fruits and vegetables and 3–7% of other crops including oil seeds and spices between harvesting and consumption. If we were to give it a number, it’s a problem worth over ₹1,52,000 crores!
Varun Raheja decides to solve this problem by processing the excess food instead of discarding it. And this solves a web of problems. We have Varun join us on The Climate Conversations to detail his solution, progress, and vision.
Read more here: https://zerodha.com/z-connect/rainmatter/raheja-solar-transforming-food-waste-into-farmer-entrepreneurship
Guest:
Varun Raheja, Founder: Raheja Solar Food Processing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/varun-raheja-ba60b3127/
Host:
Hansi Mehrotra, CFA
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hansimehrotra/
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction: The Growing Problem of Food Waste
00:40 Understanding Food Loss and Waste
01:04 The Scale of Food Loss in India
01:38 Challenges in the Indian Supply Chain
03:17 Varun Raheja's Journey Begins
05:05 Innovating with Solar Dehydrators
13:19 The Business Model: Buyback Guarantee
15:30 Scaling Up: From Rose Petals to Tomatoes
16:55 Challenges and Market Dynamics
18:41 Technology and Farmer Empowerment
19:57 Impact and Future Prospects
21:21 Conclusion: A Sustainable Solution