Farmley, a fast-emerging Indian brand, is revolutionizing the market for premium dry fruits, nuts, and innovative healthy snacks. By partnering with over 5,000 farmers and producers worldwide, the company ensures the highest standards of quality, freshness, and nutritional value in every product. Its extensive portfolio includes staples like almonds, cashews, raisins, pistachios, walnuts, figs, dates, sunflower seeds, and peanuts. Additionally, Farmley stands out for its unique creations such as Roasted Peri Peri Makhanas, Thai Chili Cashews, and Date Bites—favorites among health-conscious consumers nationwide.
Driven by a mission to provide clean, nutritious, and flavorful snacks, Farmley is steadily expanding its footprint in the healthy snacking segment. Moreover, the brand strikes a perfect balance between health benefits and taste, offering consumers a diverse and exciting range of options.
In an exclusive dialogue with The Interview World, Abhishek Agarwal, Co-founder of Farmley, shared compelling insights into the company’s journey. He explained how Farmley maintains uncompromising quality by sourcing raw materials from a wide network of farmers, emphasized the breadth and depth of its product line, and outlined strategies to make its products more affordable and accessible to consumers across India. Abhishek also revealed Farmley’s ambitious long-term growth plans, underscoring its vision to dominate the healthy snacking market.
Here are the highlights from this engaging and thought-provoking conversation.
Q: How does Farmley maintain consistent product quality while sourcing raw materials from diverse locations?
A: We dedicated the first five years of our company to building robust back-end linkages with farmers. By establishing in-house farm gate processing units near the farms, we streamlined direct deliveries and eliminated intermediaries. This proximity empowers us to train farmers on cultivating high-quality crops, ensuring they maximize their earnings, especially since dry fruits are lucrative cash crops.
Our approach focuses on direct sourcing, providing farmers with guidance, and tracing every product back to its origin. This complete ownership and traceability guarantee the delivery of superior-quality products from farm to market, creating a sustainable and transparent supply chain.
Q: Can you share the number of farmers currently associated with your organization?
A: We currently engage with over 5,000 farmers and producers, sourcing products directly from them. Our operations span key regions in India, including Bihar, Sangli, and Bangalore, where we work closely with farmers. Additionally, we are expanding our reach to international markets, establishing direct relationships with select farmers abroad. However, the majority of our farming partners are in India, particularly within the Bihar, Sangli, and Nashik belts, which are our primary focus.
Q: Given Kasaragod’s reputation for high pesticide use in cashew cultivation, how does Farmley address concerns about toxicity when sourcing cashew nuts from such regions?
A: We source our cashew nuts exclusively from Kasaragod and Bangalore, focusing on select regions known for their quality. We are highly selective about the products we accept, ensuring they meet our stringent standards. Specifically, we refuse to process any cashew nuts that are contaminated with pesticides, prioritizing clean, high-quality produce for our factory.
Q: Does Farmley cater to international markets as well?
A: Currently, we are primarily a domestic brand. However, in the last six months, we expanded into five international markets: the USA, Australia, Dubai, Nepal, Canada, and Singapore. These markets are still in their early stages, and we are actively working to establish the right product-market fit. In India, we are widely accessible both online and offline. Our products are available across all modern trade and general trade channels.
Q: How many products has Farmley launched so far?
A: We currently offer over 150 products, spanning from dry fruits and nuts to a variety of innovative products made from them. Our range includes flavored options, roasted makhanas, date bites, and panchmeva, among others. Additionally, we have an exciting lineup of new products in the pipeline.
We are thrilled to introduce more offerings, offering customers healthier alternatives to replace unhealthy junk food with nutritious snacking choices.
Q: Are there any plans to democratize your products to make them more affordable and accessible to people across India?
A: As a brand, we do not aim to position ourselves as a premium product. Our goal is not to target just the top 1 crore population of India. Instead, we focus on reaching the mass premium segment. We are continuously innovating to make our products more accessible.
Recently, we launched Makhana Munchies and Makhana Powders—chips and snacks priced at just Rs. 30. We are committed to ongoing product development that makes healthy snacking more affordable and widespread. Our mission is to shift the mindset that healthy food is expensive.
Q: What is Farmley’s long-term vision for the next 5 to 10 years?
A: Our long-term vision is to become India’s largest food brand—not just the largest healthy snacking brand, but the largest food brand overall. From there, we aim to expand globally. Our goal is to make Farmley a recognized name worldwide. That is the plan we are working toward.
