Photo: (from L to R) Organic Raw Cacao from Earth Loaf and Red Mustard, a micro green grown by Krishi Cress.
Where can you find exotic ingredients like shitake and oyster mushrooms, organic black rice, yak cheese and Dalle chillies from the North East? Usually seen on menus of trendy, locavore restaurants, this prized produce was on sale earlier this month at The Vedic Village resort near Kolkata. The Marketplace is a food symposium’s comprising a farmers market and conference discussing issues important to the food industry in India. The resort which has a reputed ayurvedic spa and strong focus on the natural way of life was the perfect environment to host farmers, food anthropologists and sustainable entrepreneurs who came together for the event on 9-10 December. We chatted with five cool entrepreneurs from The Marketplace who use sustainable methods to create unique products such as furniture, edible flowers and even chocolate.
David Bello, Founder, Earth Loaf Artisan Chocolate
Originally a bartender in the UK, Bello moved to Mysore for a change in lifestyle, weather and scenery. After a chance sampling of local South Indian cacao, David came up with the idea of making high quality, artisan chocolate and Earth Loaf was born. All the cacao at Earth Loaf is organically certified and grown in South India, which has unique flavour characteristics due to the terroir. Additionally they sweeten the chocolate with coconut sugar (which has a low GI index) and process it at low temperatures to preserve cacao’s inherit nutritional benefits. In his observation, the demand, desire and appreciation for dark chocolate has increased overwhelmingly over the past four years. “Much like wine, a new world is emerging in chocolate and India will be in the spot light. It’s a privilege to be a part of the movement.” Website
Achintya Anand, Farmer & Founder at Krishi Cress
Formally trained as a chef at the International Culinary Centre in New York, Anand was working under Sujan Sarkar of Olive Bar & Kitchen in New Delhi when he first tried his hand at growing microgreens. These amateur efforts eventually turned into a professional farming setup when chefs across the city started ordering batches. Edible flowers too were a successful experiment—he was the first local farmer in New Delhi to be able to produce these delicate plants. Anand’s company is two years old and he’s now branching out into exotic and Indian vegetable farming without the use of pesticides or chemicals. “My biggest education has been getting to know the land: where is the shade, which parts have more clay in the soil, where does the flooding happen every year etc. We must focus first on what we already have in India in abundance and create trends based on tradition instead of imitating the West thoughtlessly.” Facebook
Suparna Trikha, founder, Suparna Trikha
Suparna Trikha grew up in the English countryside surrounded by nature and has been fascinated by flowers and herbs since childhood. Additionally, her maternal grandfather Dr Satya Ketu Vidyalankar, a historian and Chancellor of Gurukul Kangri University, exposed her to Ayurveda and its benefits at a very young age. Using the expertise of the vaids from the Gurukul, she started her own beauty line made entirely from natural products. Trikha’s products do not have any chemicals or preservatives thus resulting in a shorter shelf life and no artificial smells. However, her illustrious client list (from Shabana Azmi to Sheela Dixit), numerous awards, Harper Collins book and columns at reputed newspapers like the Telegraph have given her due appreciation. She started with a banana bouncer for the hair and now her line has over 35 products and is used in spas like Nikko, Asian Roots and at hotels like Jaypee Greens and ITC Heritage hotels. Now working on her second book and looking to build her name as a brand of natural beauty products, Trikha stays true to her original philosophy. “Now more than ever, chemical free products are the need of the hour,” she says.
Jose Antonio (Pepe) Zalba, Co-Founder at PRASAD
Zalba was a Spanish photographer living in Santiniketan prior to being a furniture designer. Using some leftover wood to construct a chair made only with joints and no screws or nails, Zalba received a great response and decided to form a cooperative to produce a unique line of furniture. PRASAD furniture is made using traditional techniques with slabs of good quality wood that celebrates the natural look of the tree. No petroleum products are used in the production so that wood can breathe even after being converted into a piece of furniture. “You have to engage with our products,” says Zalba. “We want to bring nature to your home and this is one way of doing it.” The co-operative has struggled to become financially independent but insists on returning 10% of their turnover back into the environment or larger community.
Aloke Kumar Singh & Neil Andrew Robinson, Designers at MICRONESIUM clothing
Launched in 2016, MICRONESIUM is Singh and Robinson’s apparel brand that only uses organic natural fabrics and natural dyes and no chemicals (they even source buttons made from sustainable coconut wood). “We term ourselves responsible designers,” says Robinson. “We work with farmers, weavers and dyers to develop these sustainable and earth-friendly fabrics, which we then use to create international contemporary fashion for both the Indian and International markets.” Each garment is made from exquisite woven fabrics, using organic yarns and natural colours by award winning dyers and weavers, certified by international bodies. The line speaks a post-millennium design language, fusing contemporary style innovation with sustainability and ethics. Aloke and Neil are also the founders of ESEDS—the first Design Institute in India to integrate Ethics and Sustainability into its curriculum.