April 4, 2017

Aspada Investment Company has invested $2.7 million in Waycool Food and Products, an India-based fresh produce distribution company.

Through its distribution hub in Chennai, Waycool mainly operates in Tamil Nadu, sourcing fresh fruits and vegetables from smallholders and aggregators, or from produce-specific value chain companies to sell through various distribution channels, including retail shops and outlets, hotels, restaurants, and catering operations. By being able to optimize sourcing, target markets, and transportation across distribution channels through its hybrid business model, Waycool is able to minimize the delay between farm and fork.

The fresh capital is earmarked to support Waycool in its goals of expanding into Bengaluru and Hyderabad, reducing inefficiencies in the supply chain through the establishment of a new technology platform, and to boost its existing infrastructure.

“India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, and presents a significant opportunity for private players to profitably organize perishable produce value chains,” said Karthik Jayaraman, co-founder and CEO of Waycool. “Our partnership with Aspada will allow us to leverage not only their cumulative expertise in India’s horticulture value chains, but also their sizable portfolio of fresh produce companies.”

Although it is true that India is ranked second in the world for fruit and vegetable production, more than 30 percent of this output is lost to wastage, due in large part to a supply chain that is overrun with multiple intermediaries. Waycool plans to disrupt the existing system through updated produce handling protocols and disintermediation of the chain.

“Structural challenges in India’s fresh produce supply chain, comprised of multiple intermediaries, leads to significant wastage, lower prices for farmers, and poor quality produce at a high relative price,” said Kushal Agrawal, chief financial officer at Aspada. “As a sophisticated post-harvest supply chain firm Waycool will address these challenges through disintermediation and careful produce handling, thereby catering to a rapidly growing urban middle class that increasingly demands safe, high-quality, and traceable fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Waycool will join Aspada’s extensive portfolio of companies along the fresh produce value chain – each of which are focused on specific fruits and vegetables.

LEAF, which is focused on carrots, and exotic vegetables; InI Farms, which is centered on pomegranates, bananas, and pineapples; AllFresh, which is focused on apples and citrus fruits, and SV Agri, which is focused on potatoes.

The realization of the volumes of fresh food that is being lost to waste in India, one of the largest consumer markets in the world, has drawn the attention of innovators and investors alike.

Aside from Aspada’s activity in the category, last September, LEAF raised an undisclosed Series B from U.S.-based venture capital fund, Unitus Impact and Denmark-based BESTELLER Foundation.

Last July, Lemon Leaf, another fresh fruit and vegetable supply chain venture, raised its first round of external funding from two unnamed angel investors, and in May of last year, a new platform called FEEDS was launched through a collaboration between Tech Mahindra and German software company, SAP, to manage the fresh produce supply chain.

-Lynda Kiernan

Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.