Ludhiana
19 December 2021
DIVYA AZAD
Punjab’s second and Ludhiana’s first NAFED Bazaar store opened its doors in E Block, SBS Nagar . NAFED Bazaar was inaugurated by senior IPS officer Mr. Narinder Bhargav by cutting the ribbon. The outlet has been set up by India’s largest & most premier central government owned Agricultural conglomerate – National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) in association with Seedstart Retail. NAFED Bazaar Punjab’s operations will be taken care of by a young & dynamic woman entrepreneur – London based NRI Gurbani Mehta, who’s startup Seedstart Retail is NAFED’s channel partner for Punjab. The inauguration ceremony took place in the presence of Gurbani Mehta. Sh. Sanjeev Kumar Chaddha(IFS), MD, NAFED also joined in the inaugural ceremony online.
Gurbani Mehta while talking to media persons said, “I am jubilant to open doors of our second store in Punjab. Our idea is to become a bridge between farmers, manufacturers of small time pan India brands and consumers of the state. NAFED Bazaar will provide quality NAFED and other agro-based products to consumers at great prices. The idea is to give people premium quality products at affordable prices.”
She revealed that her team would also train underprivileged and physically challenged people and will involve at least one such staff member in each store of NAFED Bazaar in Punjab, to support them and their community at large.
Gurbani said further, “I have seen the struggle that farmers have to go through to get their produce sold in the open market. NAFED Bazaar will present an entrepreneurial opportunity to the current generation of farmers too, where they can experiment out of their comfort zone of just being producers to being manufacturers also. We would want young farmers of Punjab to enter the competitive market with agriculture allied products and become successful owners of their own brands that can be sold across India in NAFED Bazaars.”
Extending actual support to farmers, Seedstart Retail also invited farmers to come to the inauguration and list their products with NAFED Bazaar Punjab.
Added Gurbani, “My experience in London has gotten me up close and personal with smaller brands that do not have a level playing field as far as market opportunities are concerned against giant brands, which monopolize shelf spaces. This prompted me to create a platform for smaller agri-brands in Punjab in association with NAFED.”
Gurbani informed that she always wanted to come back to her roots in India and that Punjab was really close to her heart. She said that this venture will give her a chance to help Punjab’s farmers.
Providing details of NAFED Bazaar’s expansion plans in Punjab, Gurbani said, “We are aiming for at least 80 more NAFED Bazaar’s in the state. In addition to Ludhiana, NAFED Bazaar Punjab has a store in Kapurthala too. In the months to come, special attention shall be given to the cities of Jalandhar and Amritsar too. We are very keen to reach out to smaller towns of Punjab as well. We might work on a different model there.”
