After the hail storm hitting the farm in Himachal we had to try and figure out a way to survive the heat wave that hit Delhi in June after the pretty cool month of May . The temps touched the 44 deg Celsius mark on a every day basis and the cows lost their apperite and thus leading to a drop in their milk production .
To keep them safe from the effect of the heat we have installed a fogging system where they rest but in this heat the foggers also didn't seem to work wonders but yeah they were definitely better off than the animals in the neighboring farms . There is only so much we cud do , and if possible we wud have luvd to install AC's for them ;-) , but obviously that would have been asking the members to pay an extra 10 bucks behind every litre which I don't think they would have agreed to , but shall ask them for next year .
The heat also got to my dad and me .. which resulted in my dad packing his bags , starting the car and driving of to Himachal to re charge his batteries in the cooler environment . He's gone for 10 odd days and shall be back before our members start to return from their vacations and result in increased work load at the farm . I on the other hand just couldn't get myself to speak with prospective members though I had about 10-12 women who were interested in the membership programme. The heat just seems to shut my mind of and I don't see myself being able to run for a vacation this year though I'm dying to get away to re charge my batteries as well . Maddie on the other hand also decided to take a short vacation and headed of to meet her mom & brother thus leaving me and Shadow all by ourselves for a few days .
The members base hasn't increased by too many in the past week or so due to me not calling anyone , but since it cooled down over the last 3 days I have again gotten the phone stuck to my ear and been making the calls and have had about 9 more added to the list . Also with vacation about to get over we are gearing up for a hopeful surge in demand . We are going to be buying 6-7 more cows in the next 10 days and then keeping fingers crossed that our members do spread the word and we have lots more ppl signing up over the next few months .
Also there has been a huge demand for paneer and curd by our members and we are looking at starting to make the paneer for now , curd shall be looked into a lil later . Unfortunately the vegetables in HImchal also seem to be making trouble for us , the pests have really taken a liking for our fields and attacked with a vengeance . Huge losses suffered but I guess it makes us more determined for next year . So as of now we havn't been able to offer any to our members but our getting the fields ready for the winter season at the Gurgaon farm , and we hopin that goes off better than the summer season . All in all its been a tough year so far in the field .....
The last 3 days have seen the rains come down which has given us all a respite from the heat and we praying that heat wave has gone for good . Though we all know that of late the weather has started behaving strangely so never know what can happen next . There is nothing better than the rain inspite of all the traffic snarls it creates , the smell of dampness in the car , the get wet situation when Shadow insist he has to do his job inspite of it pouring outside ( need to get a raincoat ) and not having ones favoritre tee dry in time for the party . But lets hope it keeps raing like this from now on .... will allow us to till the fields and grow some green grass which will help in the soil getting in some Nitrogen before the vegetables are planted .
I guess its time to call another lady .... so signing out for now !!! Shall try and post a bit more often from now on , I know thats what I said last time also .
Cheers
Monday, June 18, 2007
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Selling the ' CONCEPT ' + Farm update !!!
Well its been just over 2 weeks since I started the Marketing Campaign ... Started out by getting the close friends to sign up , people who had been explained the concept way before I even started and they signed up without even sampling the milk . But soon I ran out of friends with children so I started hounding them friends to talk to their friends .... as thats how we had decided to spread our network . That ways I wud be connected to each and every member through some common people and in the long run would allow us to have a more interactive dealing with most of them . Soon the word started spreading , I started speaking to friends friends ... but they wanted to sample the milk and see for themselves how it tastes , how does the curd form, how good is the paneer that is made of this milk . Soon, we started getting people signing up without too much of a fuss as once they tried the milk , they were pretty much hooked on to it .
Ive spoken to and met over a 150 mothers ... out of which I've had a few refusals -- mostly as they felt that the children or the husband didnt take to the taste of this new milk and they would rather have the milk that is probably adulterated with various chemicals ( guess I can't convince them all ) . It does hurt a bit to hear some try the milk , infact even like the milk and its by products but then refuse on the ground that the children/husband didnt like the taste . I mean , its for the elders to know what is gud for the child ... and to explain it to them ... and insist that the organic milk is good for them and they just have to get used to the new taste . I guess and hope someday these parents see sense , and do come back coz we wudn't want children suffering due to their parents lack of awareness . Ive had one case of a mother telling me that she luvs it but the membership fees that we charging is not fair -- I mean , what is so unfair in it ?? I refuse to accept the fact that a nominal amount of 1500 bucks is too much as a one time fee to be part of our organic farm . The same person has probably paid lakhs for a clubs membership , paid lakhs in advance to the builder of the flat they live in ..... but 1500 bucks for a healthy body is TOOO MUCH !!! Not that I'm gonna be wasting too much time with such people ... I wud understand if they had a problem with the product or the service ..... but the Membership fees . But such people keep you entertained , I usually have a smile on my face when talking to such people .
On the other hand I've come across women .. who have lapped up the product and infact have started recomending a lot of their friends to also join in and start taking milk from our farm. Most of these mothers are a pleasure to talk to , some have even given me tips on how to convince the price conscious Indian women . We didn't expect such a good response when we started out , but I have to thank all the mothers who becoming a part of the farm and its activities . The summer vacations have played in keeping enrollment on the slower side , as a lot of ppl are travelling . Infact a lot of people have tried the milk , liked it , approved it .. but wud join in after they return from their summer vacations . We look forward to July as that month shud really have me busy ... ;-)
So far its been pretty easy to convince people about the quality of the milk coming from our farm . Also a lot of them have surprised me with questions that only well aware people would know . Just goes to show that there are loads of people out there who really want to give up adulteration in their foods and are willing to pay the premium that Organic demands .
Also things have moved a bit too fast ... meaning that a lot of our members are requesting me to also make paneer and curd for them . We are working on that and hopefully should start with the Paneer pretty soon , though the logistics of the curd might take a bit longer . Lets see what happens on this front .
Things at the farm have been progressing well ... most of the required buildings have been constructed . Organic wheat has come into our stores , the cows have their relaxation areas covered with over head foggers to keep them cool during the after noon heat wave . 2 cows are really creating trouble for us and we may have to think about their future at the farm . They are the trouble makers , also their milk yield is way lower than what it should be ... so a decision will be taken in a few days . As usual the labor is being a problem , the more you take care of them the more trouble they create for you . I wonder why they so thick headed ..... we are paying our staff way more than any other farm or way more than they were earning before they came to our farm . But I guess this will be an ongoing head ache , though we hope that we do get lucky and get a good set of people to work for us .
As of now we have about 80 paid up members + another 40 families that have liked the milk and will sign up when they return from their vacations . So this far its looking good .... though we still are a long way of the target needed to get to a break even point .
More later .................................................
Im just soooo dying to get away with Maddie for a lil vacation to re charge my batteries ..... though I somehow don't see that happening anytime soon :-( .
Ive spoken to and met over a 150 mothers ... out of which I've had a few refusals -- mostly as they felt that the children or the husband didnt take to the taste of this new milk and they would rather have the milk that is probably adulterated with various chemicals ( guess I can't convince them all ) . It does hurt a bit to hear some try the milk , infact even like the milk and its by products but then refuse on the ground that the children/husband didnt like the taste . I mean , its for the elders to know what is gud for the child ... and to explain it to them ... and insist that the organic milk is good for them and they just have to get used to the new taste . I guess and hope someday these parents see sense , and do come back coz we wudn't want children suffering due to their parents lack of awareness . Ive had one case of a mother telling me that she luvs it but the membership fees that we charging is not fair -- I mean , what is so unfair in it ?? I refuse to accept the fact that a nominal amount of 1500 bucks is too much as a one time fee to be part of our organic farm . The same person has probably paid lakhs for a clubs membership , paid lakhs in advance to the builder of the flat they live in ..... but 1500 bucks for a healthy body is TOOO MUCH !!! Not that I'm gonna be wasting too much time with such people ... I wud understand if they had a problem with the product or the service ..... but the Membership fees . But such people keep you entertained , I usually have a smile on my face when talking to such people .
On the other hand I've come across women .. who have lapped up the product and infact have started recomending a lot of their friends to also join in and start taking milk from our farm. Most of these mothers are a pleasure to talk to , some have even given me tips on how to convince the price conscious Indian women . We didn't expect such a good response when we started out , but I have to thank all the mothers who becoming a part of the farm and its activities . The summer vacations have played in keeping enrollment on the slower side , as a lot of ppl are travelling . Infact a lot of people have tried the milk , liked it , approved it .. but wud join in after they return from their summer vacations . We look forward to July as that month shud really have me busy ... ;-)
So far its been pretty easy to convince people about the quality of the milk coming from our farm . Also a lot of them have surprised me with questions that only well aware people would know . Just goes to show that there are loads of people out there who really want to give up adulteration in their foods and are willing to pay the premium that Organic demands .
Also things have moved a bit too fast ... meaning that a lot of our members are requesting me to also make paneer and curd for them . We are working on that and hopefully should start with the Paneer pretty soon , though the logistics of the curd might take a bit longer . Lets see what happens on this front .
Things at the farm have been progressing well ... most of the required buildings have been constructed . Organic wheat has come into our stores , the cows have their relaxation areas covered with over head foggers to keep them cool during the after noon heat wave . 2 cows are really creating trouble for us and we may have to think about their future at the farm . They are the trouble makers , also their milk yield is way lower than what it should be ... so a decision will be taken in a few days . As usual the labor is being a problem , the more you take care of them the more trouble they create for you . I wonder why they so thick headed ..... we are paying our staff way more than any other farm or way more than they were earning before they came to our farm . But I guess this will be an ongoing head ache , though we hope that we do get lucky and get a good set of people to work for us .
As of now we have about 80 paid up members + another 40 families that have liked the milk and will sign up when they return from their vacations . So this far its looking good .... though we still are a long way of the target needed to get to a break even point .
More later .................................................
Im just soooo dying to get away with Maddie for a lil vacation to re charge my batteries ..... though I somehow don't see that happening anytime soon :-( .
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Shadow
with a lil St.Bernard pup !!!
DUKE ..
Hes adopted that lil kitten
