The Kalplata ‘Stamp of Trust’ is our way of showing our non-negotiable commitment to Mother Earth, Farmer and YOU. It is our passion to bring pure ethical food on your table day after day. To build confidence and TRUST of our customers and farmers we believe transparency of intentions and action is required. Sustainably Grown - Good, Clean, Safe food or as we call it 100% PURE is really your birth right. The supply chain complexities are driving the Earth, farmers and the economy to the brink and it is time to wake up and make right choices. The only hope for our common future is when the food supply chain ascertains socio-economic & environmentally sustainable practices at every step from farm to table. Sustainable Livelihoods - Fair, Local, Slow tied with Green business practices that push the current boundaries is our promise of 100% ETHICAL. The revolution however in the food system and food standards is only possible when you Know your Farmer – Single origin, open and accountable relationship is built with our promise of 100% TRACEABLE food for knowing is believing.
JOIN US
to be the change and create real impact here and NOW!!
Kalplata farmers are skilled in the ART of growing sustainable food. Read on to understand what does it mean and how is it ensured.
Sustainable farming - WE and our farmers grow consciously with love and care without the use of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides or weedicides. Following the tenets of natural and organic farming our methods are labour intensive as we ‘Intercrop’ to control pests, ‘Crop Rotate’ to replenish soil nutrients, ‘Multicrop’ to suppress weeds and use preparations like jeevamrut, beejamrut & panchgavya that are based on use of cow dung and cow urine and many gifts of nature like neem, karanj, garlic etc. Our sustainable farming practices go beyond the simple adages of no chemical, no synthetic fertilizer to low or no external inputs, low mechanization, rain-fed and water-conservation based irrigation, mulching and more. They maintain rich biodiverse ecosystems that promote pollinator birds, insects, beneficial microorganisms that improve the nutrient profile of the produce.
To know that best practices are followed on the farm our purity checks are rigorous from sowing to harvest through transportation and to your table. Verification on ground is regular with intermittent farm visits, peer group checks and the farmers are required to share pictures & videos of their farm preparations and processes constantly during a crop season. We support them with third-party certification if they desire but don’t insist as costs are recurring and prohibitive particularly for small farmers.
Heirloom Seeds & Seed Conservation - Sustainable farming is best supported by use of indigenous or heirloom seeds. No GMO for us, we promote selection varieties and ‘desi beej’ or heirloom seeds vs hybrids too. Heirlooms are always indigenous to a region and native hardy varieties. Drought and disease resistant nature makes them less vulnerable to pest attacks and vagaries of climate change. Though they may give lower yields they generally require less irrigation and other inputs and thus reduce stress on land and the farmer in the long run. Moreover, they up your wellness quotient as they are more nutritious, wholesome and packed with flavour.
Integral to natural ways of farming is conservation of seed for sowing the next season. Farmers also exchange or buy from each other unlike non-propagating hybrid seeds that are expensive and sold by pesticide giants like Bayer, Monsanto. In this way the abundance of nature is further propagated.
In our commitment to 100% Pure we strive to grow, source and process that which is truly ‘Clean’ ‘Non-Toxic’ ‘Healthy’ and ‘Safe Food’ to nourish your body and mind.
When we carefully choose what we buy we have a positive impact on people and the planet. Let us understand why is this critical and how can we create an enabling environment and hope it will catapult to generate enough steam for change.
FAIR & EQUITABLE – Farmers at the bottom of the pyramid do the least viable and faceless work. Foremost for us is our socio-economic responsibility to our farming community. Sourced STRAIGHT FROM THE FARM our direct and short supply chain is an endeavor to maximize farmer returns. Our farmers are given fair prices and on time (even advance) payments. We encourage individual farmers to process at the farmgate from basic cleaning to making dals and more that empowers them as families come together and work. There is no charitable intent here, it is simply the only way that we can ensure long-term viability of organic farming. On an average farmer returns are more than 50% of what consumer pays while the industry standards are truly abysmal. The remaining is consumed towards freight from farms, quality sorting cleaning and milling, safe and eco-friendly packaging, inventory warehousing and building a face for the farmer under the aegis of Kalplata Naturals.
We currently support a few FPO’s that collectively process their own farm produce and in future we intend to cluster and create rural FPO’s to ensure socio-economic sustainability and impact. The principle of sustainable livelihoods is pushed across the value chain particularly to employ & secure women whose lives we touch through Kalplata. In future we intend to have women’s Self-Help Group that will lead our processing to the next level.
Our ethical sourcing practices include a thrust to SMALL farmers (less than 2.5 acres of land). They account for more than 85% of all Indian farmers and are most in need of sustainable incomes and social recognition. Our fair and farmer first approach also means FOOD SECURITY for the farmer family & then food for the rest of us. It implies an absolute no to monocropping practices which is the bane of agriculture crisis world over.
LOCAL – To grow and source makes for socio-environmental sustainability. It helps local economy, reduces your food miles, builds ‘connect’ with the local farmer and local food. At the moment we define it as in-state or from adjoining states – wherever we are geographically present we serve only that which is not available locally from outside.
SLOW - Sourcing to manufacturing our ethical commitment is end to end. Hand and SLOW PROCESS practices means low waste production, good for health and low food waste. As an organization we strive to reduce waste material, reuse even our logistic waste and recycle as the last resort even it means more man hours of effort. The ‘Green Rewards’ program further incentivizes your reuse recycle upcycle efforts.
GREEN - our packaging is a conscious environmental choice. We moved from jute cloth due to shelf-life requirements but choose the windowless Back2Earth kraft paper bags from Swisspac that is a notch above the pretend eco-friendly aesthetics in the market today. We have waivered in our choice of oil packaging from glass to pouch back to mixed practices depending on local and outside audiences but promise to continue to weigh and make such choices in the future to make it easier for you to be green.
To know ‘Where your food comes from’ is believing that real people do it for you. It is the only way to connect to a real human being – your farmer and hence your food and to the Earth. A transparent supply chain is the key to our quality assurance and accountable control systems that has nothing to hide behind screens for information and is TRUST delivered.
SINGLE ORIGIN – means each produce comes from one farm-one farmer or one farming community of a region, FPO’s in our case. All popular organic products are lot aggregated and then blended but faceless. Industrial efficiency and scale be it in conventional or organic products takes away the hope of health and sustainability in our food on one end & justice, recognition & livelihood of the farmer on the other. Check out our videos to feel the connect with real farmers and their environs that feed you.
OPEN & ACCOUNTABLE – What you have on your platter is verifiable end to end. Details of our farmers and their geographic location is boldly displayed against each product on our website. We encourage you to interpret it in terms of your food miles and also love a product and show your inclination to visit our farmers they will host you in the spirit of athithi baivo bhav!!
An open, traceable system delivers our promises of pure and ethical. In future through blockchain technology we hope to have systems for you to trace it with every purchase in hand.
At Kalplata, the focus is relationships be it with our farming community or with YOU - the conscious consumer and with the Kalplata ‘Stamp of Trust’ we bridge the gap of doubt and be partners of change for the benefit of - Mother Earth, Farmer and You.
