O DESi was founded by former ITC Limited professional, Vinay Kothari in 2018. He worked as a Brand Manager for ‘Sunfeast’ amongst other roles at different levels during his seven year stint at ITC Limited. Currently, GO DESi operates in the confectionery / point of sale category. The brand offers traditional flavoured food products like Imli Pop, Jackfruit bars, Banana Bites,Lemon Chaat, Amla Bites and more.
What is the problem your product solves and how big is the space
At GO DESi we are creating a packaged food brand inspired by regional formats & flavours.
GO DESi products are manufactured at micro units set up in rural areas with the aim of creating long term sustainable jobs.
All our products are “As is” i.e. made in traditional manner by locals with tremendous knowledge about indigenous ingredients, flavours, giving GO DESi products an unparalleled authenticity. At one end, we are taking our consumers back to the root on the other hand we aim to capture a larger share of the retail food value chain at the farm itself.
Our current range of products are focused on the Impulse purchase or POS category. This category in the packaged food space is dominated by the confectionery space. The category (both unorganised + organised segment) size is close to 18000+ crores.
What made you to start this journey and how is itgoing so far?
It’s always difficult to start a journey and the first steps will almost surely be sabotaged by personal worries, too little time, fear of the unknown, misconceptions, indecisiveness,and definitely by lack of geographical knowledge. So then why not start with a map? A map of one’s own emotions that have been lying abandoned for too long like a dusty summer road in the middle of …nowhere.
GO DESi began to take shape while reeling off memories on the winding paths of northern Karnataka. In fact, GO DESi has always been in our mind, in a collective mind that connects generations through the childhood memories of the many intertwined scents in mom’s kitchen.
Coming down from the benevolent mountains, we crossed a misty valley where all nature seemed to be saturated with water. The monsoon winds were hitting the trees hard and we were soaked by a continuous stream pouring straight onto our backs and into our trekking boots. We took shelter from the monsoon in the first tea shop that came our way and we gulped a cup of the blissful hot potion while looking at the distant farms clouded by the constant rain curtain. Then and there it was our first contact with Malnad, its magic farms, its unique foods and the very hospitable local farmers, surprised to see two lost trekkers in their quiet little village. Despite being lost, we found purpose. This was the start of GO DESi…
How do you see you rorg in the next 3 years?
We see GO DESi as a 100 crore brand with a large portfolio of DESi products sourced, manufactured and packed at the farm gate creating more than 1000 long term sustainable jobs in rural India.
We plan to utilise the newly secured funds to expand our reach, build a stronger team and add to the portfolio of our products.
What is your contribution to society?
· 95% of the total workforce that GO DESi has are women
· The employment is completely local or rural area based (the ones who need the job)
· The raw materials used to manufacture the food items are purchased directly from the farmers and they are paid accordingly
· The maximum distance the labor or workforce has to travel is 0.5km which was 2km initially
· The average income per month has increased from Rs 3100 to Rs 6000.
GODESi has not only impacted the lives of the workforce but also of the customers who have been dealing with us and have shown their great happiness with the product quality& taste. We believe in providing you with the taste you want that gives you a hint of nostalgia with a lot of smiles on your faces.
We are really trying hard to provide employment to as many people as we can. Every purchase from us helps them in one way or other. It provides you with numerous explosions of tastes& helps a woman buy food for her family. Make a difference while you can!
Congratulations to Vinay and the GO DESi team.
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