Introducing Raheja Solar

A large proportion of India’s agricultural produce goes waste for purely how the produce looks (shape, size etc), despite no loss of nutrition. Adding to farmers’ woes is constant uncertainty in the pricing that their produce can fetch in the markets. Raheja Solar Food Processing helps solve both problems, with their farmer-first model.

Raheja Solar has been operating since 2018, and has touched the lives of over 50,000 farmers. They offer foldable solar dryers to farmers, farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and state governments such as Andhra Pradesh. They also offer a guaranteed buy-back scheme for the dried produce at a fixed price throughout the year. This helps farmers with a stable income, and helps tackle price fluctuations in farm produce. In turn, they sell this dried fruit produce to food businesses & restaurants.

We are really excited by their scalable, decentralised model, along with their focus on bettering farmer livelihoods. We’re happy to support them on this journey. Here’s a note from Varun Raheja (Founder, Raheja Solar Food Processing).

Introducing Raheja Solar

Can you imagine a world where millions of people are sleeping hungry, and yet we lose more than 90,000 crore worth of agricultural produce annually? Those who get exploited the most are small farmers. The harsh reality for these small farmers is that even after all their efforts over many months to cultivate crops, they don’t know if they will get enough money to feed their families or send their kids to school. At Raheja Solar Food Processing, we’ve been working on solving this problem since 2018.

Our Approach

At the heart of Raheja Solar’s endeavour lies a commitment to providing farmers with the tools they need to thrive. Central to the approach is the solar dryer – an affordable, smart solution that enables food processing for small farmers at scale. Harnessing the power of solar, these dryers preserve the colour, fragrance, and nutrition of crops, extending their shelf life and opening doors to new markets and opportunities.

Raheja Solar’s mission is to build a vertically integrated, decentralised food supply chain tailored to the unique needs of small farmers. This is mainly through offering buyback options for farmers’ solar-dried foods, helping mitigate risk and ensuring traceable backend supply for food brands, thus fostering trust and transparency in the market.

Solar Dried Foods

Our solar-dried foods embody unparalleled authenticity and purity, as there are no additives or preservatives at all. Handpicked at peak ripeness, the produce is nurtured on the farm before being processed in the solar dryer, ensuring a flavour explosion with every bite. Our promise is that our produce is always clean label, being free from all additives and preservatives.

Vision

In just six years, Raheja Solar Food Processing has made a tangible impact, creating thousands of jobs and empowering tens of thousands of small farmers to earn a better income from their excess produce. The vision extends beyond economic prosperity; Raheja Solar aims to be the most trusted B2B brand for clean food ingredients, bridging the gap between farmers and food brands while championing sustainability and economic empowerment.

Our guiding star is to be a force for good, transforming lives and communities one solar dryer at a time. Let’s work together to empower our farmers!