My childhood memories of family trips have vivid images of my grandmother stuffing her oversized trunk with various foodstuffs wrapped in bed sheets or towels. Whether it was apples from Kashmir or mustard from Kolkata, she loved regional produce. While her grandchildren spent the ’90s craving imported chocolates and remote-controlled cars, she cherished specialities from particular areas in our country. Two decades later, life has come full circle. After an overdose of foreign and packaged goods, local Indian products are now highly sought after by urban people.
We are willing to pay premium prices for chemical-free food grown in rural farms that our grandparents had been touting all along. A group of unique websites has started marketing these regional foods to audiences all over India. So, living in a metropolis such as New Delhi or Bengaluru, you will be able to order seafood from the coast of Kerala or honey from bee farms in Maharashtra. You have the convenience of home delivery, and you’re helping support the economies in those areas. Here’s our list of five foods that are produced by local farmers and craftsmen across the country and can now be ordered sitting at your desk.
CHEESE
Auroville’s La Ferme makes its own cheese using local milk and environmentally sound practices. The farm’s USP is that it only uses natural ingredients and no preservatives. Its long-lasting cheeses such as Cheddar and Auroblochon can now be bought online.
(Available at www.foodesto.com)
HONEY
Under The Mango Tree is a non-profit organisation with a ‘Bees for Poverty Reduction’ initiative that produces India’s first organic, fair-trade, single-estate honey. Its bee farms are located in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh and it offers delicious flavours such as Litchi, Himalayan Flora, and Desert Bloom.
(Available at www.foodesto.com)
COFFEE
The Indian Bean sells single-estate filter varieties from three plantations in India’s coffee belt. Appa’s is a mellow blend with a hint of spice, and comes from a Coorg estate with socially responsible cultivation practices; frowner’s fruity coffee is from Kodaikanal; and the bittersweet Watapi comes from the BR Hills of Karnataka.
(Available at www.theindianbean.com)
Kashmir Box sells the famed goods indigenous to this northern state that are hard to find elsewhere. Its products range from dried fruits such as Kashmiri walnuts and Kagzi almonds to Oriental carpets, pashmina shawls and more. In addition, you’ll be making a contribution to this troubled state and helping to rehabilitate its craftsmen and farmers.
(Available at www.kashmirbox.com)
Sea To Home was initially a Kochi-based export house that supplied chemical-free seafood to Singapore and the Middle East. Recently, it has started delivery to South and North India for a minimum order of Rs500 and Rs1,000 respectively. The daily catch ranges from a variety of fish to shrimp, clams and crabs, and all the seafood is completely fresh, devoid of chemicals and caught off the coast
of Kerala.
(Available at www.seatohome.com)