“Our Device Detects Milk Adulteration And Measures fat And SNF Content In About 40 Seconds!”
While in conversation with EFY’s Nidhi Agarwal, Utkarsh Kapoor and Rame Kachroo from ORIGHT discussed technologies that help increase transparency, improve efficiency, and ensure fair payments for farmers.
Q. Can you tell us about your company?
A. Yes, we are a fintech dairy tech company founded in 2019 after the NCR programme has grown to serve over 7,000 villages in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, with plans to reach 100,00 by year-end. Key clients include Amul, Ananda, and Country Delight. With recent funding, we’ve launched the Aadhaar payment system and will soon introduce a lending product.
Q. How did you think of your startup idea?
A. I had experience in rural India and saw opportunities in the milk supply chain. We wanted to start something that would improve lives at the grassroots level. After 20 years in corporate jobs, we were ready to make an impact on our own. Realising we could make a difference in rural areas, we used our skills and ideas to start our startup.
Q. What solutions do you offer?
A. We offer three leading solutions. First, we provide IoT devices to dairy companies. One device digitises milk collection points by attaching to existing infrastructure. Another tests milk for fat content and sends data to the cloud in real time. Third, our device detects milk adulteration and measures fat and SNF content in about 40 seconds at the source, preventing contaminated milk from entering the supply chain. Second, we have software products, including a SaaS mobile app that helps dairy companies manage milk procurement, update rates instantly, and allows various stakeholders to view their procurement data. Lastly, we are introducing fintech solutions, which include APS, lending services, and an upcoming product.
Q. How do you use IoT in your device?
A. Our IoT devices connect to any scale or analyser at collection centres. They send data, tested on these devices, to the cloud through a mobile app, with or without the internet. This allows data to be pushed in real time, helping dairy companies monitor milk collection and detect discrepancies at the grassroots level, ensuring fair payment to farmers.
Q. What electronics angle is used in your devices and apps?
A. Our IoT device is a product of our own innovation; everything was done in-house, from designing the PCB to selecting its components and writing the firmware. Electronics play a crucial role in every part of our device, whether creating sensors or making PCBs and updates. We handle all electronic modifications and additions internally to ensure the device functions smoothly. Our products are assembled at our Gurugram, India office, where we manage our manufacturing efforts.
Q. How does your data analytics process improve transparency and traceability for farmers?
A. With our technology, dairies can update the rates of milk to all their centres simultaneously from their headquarters, ensuring farmers receive the correct and current prices for their milk. This technology guarantees fair payment and records the exact amount of milk each farmer delivers. This data ensures that dairies receive the right amount of milk and improves the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of milk collection.
Q. How does real-time data analytics help farmers make decisions?
A. Our platform provides several benefits to farmers through real-time data analytics. First, Farmers receive updated digital passbooks showing milk poured at the collection centres and the payments due. They can use our software to order supplies like animal feed or medicine directly from the dairy, with costs adjusted against their earnings.
Further, we’re introducing direct and timely payments into farmers’ bank accounts, speeding up the payment process with real-time data synchronisation. Additionally, we track daily milk output, supporting a new lending program that helps farmers secure better loan rates based on their milk production.
Q. Do farmers face problems using your application?
A. No, farmers generally don’t have problems using our app because it’s designed to be very user-friendly. The interface is straightforward, and no special training is needed. We’ve also made the app multilingual in various local languages, making it accessible and easy for thousands of farmers nationwide.
Q. What design challenges did you face to develop such an ecosystem and how did you solve them?
A. Our tech team tackled many design challenges, working remotely during lockdowns. Despite this, we demoed our first product over Zoom to Ananda. Their feedback led to improvements in both software and hardware. Also, our IoT devices are tailored for Indian conditions; they’re robust, don’t need constant internet, and can connect to any device. They’re also designed to withstand power fluctuations, ensuring reliable data capture and storage. This ability to adapt and improve based on feedback and technical needs has been key to our success.
Q. What challenges do you face combining different modules into one platform?
A. The main challenge is understanding the needs and roles of each player in the supply chain. By grasping their tasks and issues, we can effectively digitise their processes. For example, a traditional process might involve steps A, B, C, D, and E. After digitising, we might find that steps C and D can be automated, allowing us to skip them and move directly from B to E. This saves time and reduces costs. The key is to map out each stakeholder’s activities and adapt our services to streamline and improve these processes digitally.
Q. Do you have competitors, and what makes you different from them?
A. Some companies sell analysers and adulteration machines, and some copy successful products. Competition is always there, and it’s healthy because it keeps us innovating and benefitting the industry. However, our advantage is that we develop everything in-house—hardware, firmware, and the application. This makes us agile and responsive to customer needs while building a complete ecosystem which sets us apart.
Q. What challenges are you facing in scaling up quickly?
A. Financial challenges are significant for any startup. We need supportive government policies that offer a startup-friendly return on investment and help new products reach the grassroots level. Often, government tenders have eligibility requirements that are tough for startups to meet quickly. We believe the government should relax these requirements to allow startups to compete in tenders and supply new technology to dairy industries. This would help create a level playing field and support startup growth.
Q. What are your plans to innovate and grow in the dairy industry?
A. We are exploring how to use AI and ML in the supply chain, which will be a key focus for us. Our goal is to become one of the top two players in the dairy industry by developing innovative features and products. We are investing heavily in R&D and working on a fintech solution to support farmers. With strong farmer engagement and the right community, we aim to become a leading player in the industry soon.
