A woman purchases organic vegetables from a Sambhavm Sri Agro Private Limited stall at Buddha Colony in Patna on Thursday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

A phone call and fresh organic vegetables delivered at home.

Sounds godsend for people afraid of consuming food items grown using chemicals or those who hate haggling with vendors for a good bargain.

Kumar Alok Anand, a 32-year-old entrepreneur, has started a home delivery service by which semi-organic vegetables are delivered to customers against bookings.

One only needs to make a call to the landline number 0612-6570161 and book their orders between 11am and 12 noon. A makeshift stall reaches the customer’s residence in the evening and the delivery is made. Before the delivery, the customer also gets a confirmatory call from Anand or his employees.

“I started the service in April. Initially, it was tough getting customers but now the business has grown. Residents like my service because it’s hassle-free. Nowadays, people find it difficult to take out time from their schedule and buy vegetables. One needs to go to a shop or look for a vendor and handpick the vegetables. All these require time,” said Anand. He added: “I have 20 regular customers and the makeshift stalls too attract people. On an average, the monthly turnover is about Rs 4 lakh.”

Anand runs his home delivery service under the brand name Sambhavm Sri Agro Private Limited and the best part is that the semi-organic vegetables are not costly.

“We sell vegetables at the market price. The only difference is that sell semi-organic vegetables, while in the market, one can find chemical-based vegetables, which are harmful,” said Anand, who has a BCom degree.

Anand said: “I have tied up with NGOs in Samastipur, Hazipur and Nalanda, which are working with farmers engaged in organic farming. The NGOs supply fresh semi-organic vegetables. After they reach our packaging centre, the vegetables are handpicked. Customers can get items ranging from 50gm to 1kg. If a customer wants the delivery to be made urgently, we transport the goods within the stipulated time.”

Anand said he has worked hard to popularise the service.

“Before starting the business, I went from door-to-door to advertise it. My team and I used to visit houses in Rajendra Nagar, Kadamkuan, Boring Road and others to make residents aware of the service. In the beginning, people were sceptical but soon I started getting calls for bookings,” said Anand.

Rajesh Kumar Singh, a resident of Buddha Colony, said: “I got to know about this service when Anand came to our house during his campaign. I was happy to know that I can get semi-organic vegetables and that too only by making a call. It is a struggle to go out and buy vegetables after office.”

Asha Sinha, another customer of Anand who lives at Rajendra Nagar, said: “The best part is that I get fresh vegetables delivered at home.”