Priyanka Sana
It was February 2020. A couple from Shangpung, West Jaintia Hills, after months of mulling, had established a start-up to bring harvest from the kitchen garden straight to consumers’ homes. All was hunky-dory, until, a month after, the pandemic struck and people locked themselves in the confines of their homes. The first lockdown had begun.
Like most business ventures born on the eve of the pandemic, na Kper Homegardens’ Harvest too had to make a direct jump to online platforms without really making its presence felt on the ground. As expected, the opening sales did not rake in the numbers the founders – Sheila Angelica Rymbai and Damewanmi Suchiang – were anticipating. They, however, kept pushing-the main motivation being the continuance of traditional and sustainable practices by giving a platform to local farmers, the majority of whom were alien to the concept of mass production and heavy machinery.
Cut to October 2021, the brand’s relentless drive finally bore fruit. They received an invitation from the Directorate of Food Processing, Meghalaya, to partake in a competition for the chance to represent the state at one of the world’s top food innovation networks, SIAL’s 2021 Innovation Exhibition in New Delhi. The panel in Meghalaya were impressed and chose na Kper as one of the finalists to represent the state in New Delhi. In the capital, na Kper’s Lakadong Turmeric bagged the silver prize in the event.
The start-up – na Kper Homegardens’ Harvest, which began as a small-scale business venture from the lush kitchen gardens of Shangpung, has its products – lakadong turmeric, perilla seeds, sticky rice, and pepper – flown by its consumers to countries such as the US, UK, Germany, and France, to name a few. They also have roughly translated, the term na Kper means “from the garden”, hence the name, “Homegardens’ Harvest”, the founders say.
It all began out as Rymbai and Suchiang’s concern about the lack of transparency in the food products market.
“More often than not, the seemingly fresh farm produce we buy contain fertilizers and chemicals. To make matters worse, stories float around on how farmers nowadays, grow crops separately – one meant for the market, and one for their own consumption. Naturally, we were concerned,” Suchiang said.
Such concerns pushed the founders to take things into their own hands. Their vision was simple – sell natural farm products procured from kitchen gardens directly to the consumers. What started as a traditional practice in the family soon led to the creation of a brand and, na Kper Homegardens’s Harvest was born.
The “source” is perhaps the most important aspect of this brand. Shangpung is well-known for its lakadong turmeric, known to have the highest curcumin content, and na Kper Homegardens’ Harvests delivers the best Shangpung has to offer; brought to your kitchens in premium, neat packaging.
“Our team never thought we will win at the Innovation Exhibition. We were second-guessing how we, such a small start-up, will compete with a sea of start-ups flooding in from all corners of the country, with expertise much sharper and older than ours,” Suchiang today recalls.
Today, the founders of na Kper hope that this is only the beginning. While there are challenges that still need to be tackled, they are confident to strive to nurture traditional practices and artisans, while bringing to our kitchens, the true tastes of nature.
“What makes our initiative unique is it has been established on the foundation of purity, quality, sustainability and traceability,” Suchiang says.
The journey of the couple perfectly encompasses the arc of every successful and growing start-up – keep pushing till you make it.