When they say no great story started with ‘I had a salad’, they clearly haven’t met Saurabh Goel. The 35-year-old engineering graduate from Gurugram, along with the rest of his family, eats a lot of salad, but they did not have a lot of access to ‘farm fresh greens’ in local markets. While you or I may just order from Subway, Goel started his own venture, trueleaf. in, that has emerged as one of the successful hydroponic farms in the NCR.
“We chose hydroponics because I realised that a large part of what we are growing is highly perishable, with produce like salad leaves and herbs coming from places such as Shimla, Himachal, Nainital and other places, and so on the way itself there was a lot of wastage of the vegetables,” says Goel, adding, “That is why we decided we will grow in these places as close to the city as possible.” This is why, apart from the hydroponic farms, there is also a Trueleaf store in Gurugram.
“People can come to the store and pick their produce and they will see it getting plucked right in front of them and then they can take it to their homes directly,” says the engineering graduate. “Earlier, we were supplying to restaurants, but since the pandemic, we switched to a B2C model, where we are supplying directly to customers across Gurugram, with plans to extend that service to Delhi in the coming weeks and months, and beyond,” notes Goel. Given the hydroponic system engineered by Goel and his team, this is not the place to get your aloo-sabzi (yet), given those crops’ need to feed, never mind the deep soil.
“We grow a variety of vegetables that include staples like tomatoes, gourd, and spinach, as well as exotics like lettuce, kale, Asian greens, with a regularly changing crop year-round. We do this to ensure that you never get bored of the produce.” Goel says their main focus is to grow vegetables in a hygienic environment which is conducive to all the needs of the plants.
“Be it the air temperature, humidity, or even light, we monitor and control a range of environmental factors which ultimately help in growing a healthy plant,” he says, noting, “This also helps in minimising the use of any form of pesticides as a healthy plant is a strong plant. Our produce is extremely safe and chemical pesticide residue-free.”
How is the feedback? “We have had 30-40 repeat orders from consumers so I am guessing they appreciate our produce.” We guess so too.