Idea Brief

The startup deals with agricultural and horticulture exotic cultivation and food processing in the Himalayas. Manufacture a product named “Yacon Syrup” which is a natural supplement for the management of various health issues. Shoten Group has currently 400 farmers families in their network.

Start-up Idea

Shoten started in the year 2014 initially with research work, developing a farmers’ network, product development and market analysis. It took the company 4 long years to set up a robust system of 400 farmers families, building the processing unit and developing the brand “Yacon Syrup”. Finally, commercial production started in April 2019. It has been a great learning experience so far, with many challenges as well as achievements and milestones like:

1. Building a monthly repeat customer base from 7 customers in January 2019 to 500 monthly repeat customers in May 2020.

2. Building a farmer network from 1 farmer family in 2014 to 250 in 2020.

3. Winner at Kanchan Panda Start-Up Festival, 2017 – Pitching Competition.

4. Participant at World Mountain Forum,  2018 – Kyrgyzstan

5. Fellow, Asia Pacific Youth Forum, 2016 – Kathmandu. One among 3 Indian participants out of 34 final fellows.

Shoten Group wants to build a collection of Himalayan foods and supplements that improve the quality of life for its consumers. The group intends to partner with institutes and organisations to develop products and ensure quality and supply credibility of the product.

Team:

Abhinandan Dhakal, Co-Founder: MSc Environmental Economics & Environmental Management. Abhinandan is an operations expert. He created a Grower Engagement Model (GEM) for farmer relationship management, supply chain and logistics SOPs and processing unit management for the product. He is meticulous in planning and execution.

Abhimanyu Dhakal Co-Founder: MTech Information Tech & Communication. Abhimanyu’s passion for marketing and creating relationships with customers has helped build brand loyalty for the product. His skills and customer-centric focus will propel the business in creating a national presence.

Priyanka Pradhan, Operations Manager: MTech CSE. Priyanka has brought structure and a resolute focus on building operational efficiencies in the business at all levels.

Ganesh Thapa, Unit Manager: Ganesh is self – motivated and disciplined and transfers that attitude to all the workers at the unit. He constantly improves operational efficiency and cuts losses and unnecessary expenses at the group.