Former strategy consultant Aastha Bajaj left the boardroom to build what most agritech startups only pitch: actual supply chains that work.
By Punita Maheshwari
Aastha Lalit Bajaj’s career started like many MBA graduates, working at big-name companies. First Hindustan Unilever, then strategy consulting firm The Parthenon Group.
But a few years in, she decided corporate life wasn’t for her.
In 2019, she launched Ancient India Organics from Visakhapatnam with a simple pitch: Tribal farmers in India’s Eastern Ghats knew how to grow excellent spices. European buyers need certified organic ingredients. There were few reliable bridges between them. So, Aashtha set-up Ancient India Organics to become one.
Visakhapatnam wasn’t a random choice for Aastha. The coffee plantations Ancient India Organics sources from are in Araku Valley, located in the Eastern Ghats about 100 kilometers from Visakhapatnam. The company’s headquarters at Seethamdhara, Visakhapatnam sits strategically close to the tribal cultivation areas in the hills.
Today Ancient India Organics manufactures over 10,000 metric tons of spices & condiments annually with production units and distribution centers in India, China, Germany, Switzerland and Africa.
The company works with 5,000+ farmers across Andhra Pradesh and Odisha including 2,500+ tribal and indigenous farmers from communities like the Koyas, Konda Reddies, Kondhs, Savaras, and Gadabas who have been inhabiting in the Eastern Ghats for years.
Among these are Vulnerable Tribal Groups, that the government classifies as most at risk due to declining populations, pre-agricultural economies, and geographical isolation.
However, the business has led to visibility for these communities to both regional suppliers and the EU markets. The company exports certified organic spices and coconut products, baby food, supplements primarily to EU
Certification Stacking Like It’s Tetris
Bajaj has built a three-fold business in growing, processing and distribution of natural food ingredients.
The company doesn’t just buy from farmers, it works with them from the ground up. Ancient India Organics plays a key role in certifying marginal farmers through FPOs (Farmer Producer Organizations). The company gets farmers certified not just for organic (NPOP, NOP, EU), but also for sustainability certifications like UEBT (Union for Ethical BioTrade) and Rainforest Alliance, plus Fairtrade social certification.
By certifying them as collectives and providing infrastructure, Bajaj created market access where none existed.
Each farm, storage facility, and processing center is geo-tagged and mapped and field activities tracked through digital monitoring apps. This mean, when a German baby food manufacturer orders turmeric powder, they can trace it back to specific farmers.
The Product Line: Spice and Everything Nice
Ancient India Organics handles ginger, turmeric, and black pepper in whole, sliced, powder forms.
The processing facilities handle value addition in-house at the cultivation areas in India, with additional operations in China, Germany, Switzerland, and Africa.
During the process of value addition the whole ginger becomes powder. The coconut portfolio runs deeper with virgin coconut oil, MCT (Medium-Chain Triglyceride) oil, RBD (Refined, Bleached, Deodorized) oil, desiccated coconut, flour, milk, cream, sugar.
Each product gets custom processing and export-ready packaging that meets international compliance standards. The facilities are state-of-the-art, compliant with international standards, and strategically located to reduce farmer transportation burden.
The company reports a 25% increase in farmer income, topping it up with a 10% bump up in crop yield and buy-back guarantees at premium pricing.
An infrastructure beyond income
Ancient India Organics provides farmers training and technical know-how on crop, leading to better production & quality through their dedicated training center in Aruku Valley. Farmers learn crop rotation, organic pest management, soil health improvement and water conservation practices through three-year sustainable cultivation programs.
The impact extends beyond training. Over 20,000+ households have benefitted from this model, including 2,500+ tribal and indigenous farmers, many from families classified as Below Poverty Line (BPL) and particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.
She also built primary processing and storage facilities right next to cultivation areas. As a result, farmers don’t have to haul their harvest across states. This saved cost which ultimately tied up to their profit margins.
Simultaneously, Ancient India Organics has built 100+ water conservation structures in farming communities which is important to beat the water scarcity in the Eastern Ghats. The company has mitigated 100+ hectares of deforestation through LPG gas access so farmers stop cutting trees for fuel.
The Partnership Playbook
Bajaj built Ancient India Organics through strategic partnerships, not just farmer relationships. The company works with GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) on sustainability projects. GIZ brings development expertise, IFAD brings agricultural finance knowledge.Rainforest Alliance and BAIF (Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation) provide ground-level project support.
What’s next: Beyond Spices
Six years in, Ancient India Organics reports $13.2 million (re-checking) in annual revenue.
Aastha’s Ancient India Organics isn’t stopping at spices and coconuts.It’s expanding the portfolio to many other products like PSYLLIUM, a fiber crop used in supplements and pharmaceuticals. Aashtha plans to keep the same model because of how it brings the communities together: certify farmers collectively, process near cultivation areas, guarantee premium buy-back pricing.
As psyllium gets added to the portfolio, more tribal farmers gain access to markets that were previously locked behind supply chain complexities they couldn’t navigate alone.
Turns out the bridge Bajaj set out to build between tribal farmers and European buyers wasn’t just about turmeric. It was about proving that scalable, profitable supply chains don’t need pitch decks. Instead, they just need infrastructure that works and farmers who finally get paid what their crops are worth for.
Aashtha Bajaj was an entrepreneur finalist at the Sankalp ASCEND Programme in Varanasi in November 2024.
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