Three key takeaways
- The Government of Uttarakhand has launched the House of the Himalayas (HOH) brand to globally export premium Himalayan organic produce so women farmers can attain higher prices for a premium micro-region product
- HOH focuses on quality over quantity, offering high-altitude farm and non-farm products.
- Women on Wings, in collaboration with Minerva, has developed a comprehensive business plan for HOH.
Himalayan farmers face a multitude of hardships. Temperature rise, unpredictable floods and droughts all affect farmer’s crops. Finding fair-paying markets is not readily attainable. And, steep, unnavigable remote Himalayan terrain makes farming and transporting goods costly.
What is more, there is a meager return for toil or paltry local job options, causing Himalayan men to migrate to cities for work. Women are left to care not only for multi-generational family members and animals but to labor-intensively farm and bring crops to a lower-paying market.
The Government of Uttarakhand means business
Uttarakhand’s government wants to change these difficult situations and it means business. At gale-force speed its teams and Women on Wings are developing its House of the Himalayas (HOH) brand which aspires to be the first venture of its kind to globally export premium Himalayan organic produce for climate and health-conscious consumers.
Women on Wings is consulting the government institution on growing revenue for the initiative so that Uttarakhand women farmers and entrepreneurs will economically benefit from the promotion of their organic products and the brand’s premium pricing strategy reflective of exclusivity.
A plan of action
Collaborating deeply, Women on Wings and Minerva turned extensive market and competitive research into rich data-driven insights and a roadmap to bring the brand alive that include:
| – Premium price segmentation and quantities – GI category – Branding, positioning, scoping – Sales, growth, distribution outcomes and targets – Roll-out plans for market share in India and abroad – Getting consumer-centric – Strategies (product development, media partner research, supply chain decarbonization) | – Cost of goods, direct labor material costs, operating and capital expenses – HR roles from executives and marketing to customer service – Key performance indicators – A three-year financial projection and templates for finance team (revenue, costs and profitability) |
Supplying global markets for local efforts
Launched in December 2023, by Uttarakhand Gramya Vikas Samiti (UGVS), the HOH concept received support from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who praised its launch by saying, “House of Himalayas strengthens the concept of ‘Vocal for Local and Local for Global’.
The brand is promoting high-altitude farm and non-farm products like Himalayan red rice, pulses, edible oils, essential oils and value-added products such as millet biscuits. HOH products are available on Amazon, with plans to expand retail distribution in metro Indian cities and the global stage.
Quality over quantity
HOH seeks to sustain Himalayan resources like air, water, soil, and biodiversity. As stated above, raising produce in the Himalayas is challenging, it requires specialized techniques honed over time. This manifests in the production of limited but high-quality quantities so that the Himalaya’s organic bounty can replenish and remain a protected, unique and sought-after offering.
HOH will also enhance the value of indigenous organic farming in the Himalayas by acquiring a geographical indication* (GI) tag, so that it can charge higher prices in a market that prioritizes social, environmental, and health concerns. In addition, the brand will pool supply-chain resources to mitigate climate change and factor costs of location-specific supply limitations.
Laying the ground work
Women on Wings has worked with the House of Himalayas since January 2024 so that fair jobs could be co-created. During a six-week time span with Minerva, a strategy advisory, we overhauled HOH’s business plan to take advantage of an enormous and growing Indian FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) market that in 2023 was INR 64.25 lakh crore ($ 774.14 bn) and a INR 5500 crore global organic food export market.
“We cleaned, segregated and benchmarked data from a full competitive analysis. We contextualized global factors for why a premium price can be asked, and facilitated workshops and many meetings,” says Women on Wings joint Managing Director Shilpa Mittal Singh.
“We undertook this whole process to come up with a macro-strategic point of view to shape the scope of HOH’s branding and financial projections for a three-year business plan. With this data-driven approach we challenged HOH team’s own aspirations for a higher sales turnover number. So that a greater amount of women can be impacted and their income increases.”
Funding the creation of a positive future
Women on Wings’ partnerships have spanned governments, social enterprises, foundations, and NGOs. Because of the grant received from the Gates Foundation, Women on Wings can consult the Government of Uttarakhand to unleash the full potential of women in Uttarakhand’s rural areas.
For more than 17 years, with our partners and the support of our professional network of experts, Women on Wings has consulted organizations across India, including social enterprises in the Himalayan region. To date Women on Wings has co-created almost 400,000 jobs.
*A geographical indication (GI) tag
One approach to highlight HOH’s product uniqueness to an Indian or global market is to make use of its geographical indication (GI) tag. Women on Wings and Minerva created a GI category to inform the products’ authenticity, quality and origin to raise product rarity, preciousness, and high altitude organic quality.
A GI tag is a sign from the Indian government that products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, characteristics or a reputation that are due to the Himalayas. For instance, Darjeeling tea was the first Indian product to get a GI tag in 2003.
