In this Insightful conversation, Vivek Nirmal, Co-founder of Kisan Connect, shares his journey from building and scaling Prabhat Dairy a company he sold to a French dairy giant for $220 million to starting over and building one of India's most promising farm-to-fork businesses.
From a personal tragedy that inspired him to fix India's contaminated food supply chain, to building a tech-first, farmer-first model serving over 1 lakh customers in Mumbai and Pune, Vivek breaks down what it really takes to build a business in perishables.
He opens up about pricing, farmer income, quality control, fundraising discipline, and why execution not tech is the real differentiator in this space. Building trust, one harvest at a time, is at the heart of everything Kisan Connect does.
Key topics covered:
- The personal tragedy that inspired Kisan Connect
- Building and divesting Prabhat Dairy for $220 million
- Why fresh produce is nutritionally degrading over time
- Kisan Connect vs the local vegetable vendor
- Building a farm-to-hub cold chain supply system
- Ensuring quality control across 8,000 farmers
- Revenue numbers and growth targets
- Profitability, costs, and where the money goes
- Shilpa Shetty: from customer to brand ambassador and investor
- Pricing strategy and the "affordable premium"
- Who is the real competition in farm-to-fork
- Why players like Ekrishi, Deep Rooted shut down
- Biggest execution challenges in perishables
- Global companies that inspire the Kisan Connect model
- The game plan, IPO, and scaling to ₹1,000 crore
- Key learnings from building two businesses
- Biggest mistakes and lessons for young entrepreneurs
- Capital needed to start a farm-to-fork business
- Understanding today's Indian farmer and consumer
- Creating impact beyond the business
- Real wealth-creation frameworks
- Business insights from top founders
- Investment lessons for long-term success
- Mindset, risk-taking & decision-making wisdom
- Decades of experience broken into actionable learning
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
02:14 Who is Vivek Nirmal & Kisan Connect
02:52 The Personal Story Behind Kisan Connect
05:14 Building & Selling Prabhat Dairy for $220 Million
10:04 Kisan Connect vs Local Vegetable Vendors
13:07 Farm-to-Hub Supply Chain & Cold Chain
16:39 Ensuring Quality Control with 8,000 Farmers
19:20 Revenue Numbers & Growth Plans
22:02 Profitability, Costs & Spending Breakdown
23:14 Shilpa Shetty: Customer to Brand Ambassador
24:39 Pricing Strategy & Farmer Benefits
27:14 Who is the Real Competition?
29:33 Why Some Farm-to-Fork Players Shut Down
32:32 Biggest Challenges in Farm-to-Consumer Business
34:38 Global Companies & Inspirations
35:45 Game Plan, IPO & Scaling to ₹1000 Crore
37:46 Key Learnings from Building Two Businesses
40:48 Biggest Mistakes & Lessons Learned
46:02 Capital Needed to Start a Farm-to-Fork Business
46:15 Understanding the Indian Consumer & Farmer
49:08 Creating Impact Beyond Business
51:08 Rapid Fire & Final Thoughts
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