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Farmer empowerment | Choupal Saagar |
Choupal Fresh | Choupal
Pradarshan Khet ITC's pre-eminent position as one of India's leading corporates in the agricultural sector is based on strong and enduring farmer partnerships, that has revolutionized and transformed the rural agricultural sector. A unique rural digital infrastructure network, coupled with deep understanding of agricultural practices and intensive research, has built a competitive and efficient supply chain that creates and delivers immense value across the agricultural value chain. One of the largest exporters of agri products from the country, ITC sources the finest of Indian Feed Ingredients, Food Grains, Edible Nuts, Marine Products, Processed Fruits, Coffee & Spices. ITC's Agri Business Division is the country's second largest exporter of agri-products with exports of over Rs. 1000 Crores (Rs. 10 billion). Its domestic sales of agri-products are in excess of Rs. 1500 Crores (Rs. 15 billion). It currently focuses on exports of:
Farmer empowerment through e-Choupals
The unique e-Choupal model creates a significant two-way multi-dimensional channel which can efficiently carry products and services into and out of rural India, while recovering the associated costs through agri-sourcing led efficiencies. This initiative now comprises about 6500 installations covering nearly 40,000 villages and serving over 4 million farmers. Currently, the 'e-Choupal' website provides information to farmers across the 10 States of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Over the next 5 years it is ITC's Vision to create a network of 20,000 e-Choupals, thereby extending coverage to 100,000 villages representing one sixth of rural India. Supporting the e-Choupal network are ITC's procurement teams, handling agents and contemporary warehousing facilities across India, enabling its Agri Business to source identity-preserved merchandise even at short notice. ITC's processors are handpicked, reliable high quality outfits who ensure hygienic processing and modern packaging. Strict quality control is exercised at each stage to preserve the natural flavour, taste and aroma of the various agri products.
In line with its strategy of achieving a higher order of value capture, the business also focuses on the value added segment, steadily enhancing its basket of offerings with several new products. These include frozen foods, IQF (individually quick frozen) fruits, niche products like baby-food quality purees and high brix pulp and organic purees. ITC seeks to focus on this segment and exploit the market opportunity for tropical fruits and fruit products, where India has a natural advantage of growing the complete range, including exotic varieties. In Processed Fruits category, ITC exports from HACCP certified plants to Western Europe, North Africa, West Asia, Japan and North America, a wide range of Processed Fruit products made from Mango (Alphonso, Kesar & Totapuri), Guava, Papaya and Pomegranate. ITC is the leading Indian exporter of Organic Fruit Products certified to European (EC 2092/91) and US (NOP) Standards. Fresh Table Grapes & Pomegranates are sourced from ITC's EUREPGAP certified farmer groups & retailed through prominent supermarkets like Sainsbury's and Albert Heijn in Europe and Daiei in Japan.
ITC has been a significant exporter of seafood from India since 1971. It exports frozen as well as cooked shrimps and other seafood products to Japan, USA and Europe. Its well-known brands include Gold Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, Aqua Kings, Aqua Bay, Aqua Feast and Peninsular.
ITC's Agri Business Division continues to use innovation as its core strategy to retain its position as the one-stop shop for sourcing agri-commodities from India. Besides setting benchmarks in quality, reliability and value-added services, ITC is a trendsetter in customer care particularly in commodity trading. Major customers include Cargill, Marubeni, Toepfer, among others, who source agriculture commodities and food products from India. Customers can log onto www.itcibd.com, and readily access information on crop production and forecast, market updates, the latest shipment status and the prevailing foreign exchange rates. Sourcing for ITC ITC's Agri business is progressively aligning its commodity portfolio with the sourcing needs of the Company's Foods business to generate higher order value from its agri procurement infrastructure. The business has commenced procurement of chipstock potatoes, one of the critical raw materials in the manufacture of the Company's 'Bingo!' brand of potato chips. The acquisition of Technico, an Australian company with technology leadership in the production of early generation seed potatoes, helped the business access a ready pipeline of new high-yielding varieties of chipstock potato seeds. |
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ITC's Agri Business Division has won numerous awards:
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ITC's unique strength in this business is
the extensive backward linkages it has established with the farmers.
This networking with the farming community has enabled ITC to build a
highly cost effective procurement system. ITC has made significant
investments in web-enabling the Indian farmer. Christened
'e-Choupal',
ITC's empowerment plan for the farmer centres around providing Internet
kiosks in villages. Farmers use this technology infrastructure to access
on-line information from ITC's farmer-friendly website
Following
the success of the e-Choupal, the Company launched
Choupal Saagar, a physical infrastructure hub that
comprises collection and storage facilities and a unique rural
hypermarket that offers multiple services under one roof. This landmark
infrastructure, which has set new benchmarks for rural consumers also
incorporates farmer facilitation
centres with services such as sourcing, training, soil testing, health
clinic, cafeteria, banking, investment services, fuel station etc.
24 'Choupal
Saagars' have commenced operations in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. ITC is engaged in scaling up the rural
retailing initiative to establish a chain of 100 Choupal Saagars in the
near future.
Choupal Fresh, ITC's
fresh food wholesale and retail initiative, leverages its extensive
backward linkages with farmers and supply chain efficiencies. It focuses
on stocking fresh horticulture produce like fresh fruits and vegetables.
Three Choupal Fresh Cash & Carry Stores
and Six Choupal Fresh retail stores
are currently operational at Hyderabad, Pune and Chandigarh. The company
has also set up a complete cold chain for ensuring the availability of
fresh products in the market, besides directly sourcing farm fresh
produce from the farmers.
In line with its mission of improving the
quality of life in rural India, ITC's Agri Business has launched a
flagship extension programme called 'Choupal Pradarshan Khet' (CPK) or
demonstration plots to help farmers enhance farm productivity by
adopting agricultural best practices. Started in 2005-06, the crop
portfolio includes soya, paddy, cotton, maize, bajra, wheat, gram,
mustard, sunflower and potato. This initiative, which currently covers
43,500 hectares, has a multiplier impact and reaches out to over 1
million farmers.
Marine Products
The Ashoka - Changemakers ‘Health For All’
Award 2006 for the Rural Health Services model for delivery of health
services through the e-Choupals.
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