Growing organic, going cheap
The scion of a farming family devised a new business model after getting sick of the threats pesticides pose, writes Aree Thongboonrawd
Several pesticide alert networks have recently called on the government to ban the use of pesticides like paraquat and chlorpyrifos in farming due to the harm they cause the environment and the threat to public health. The issue has raised concern for those who work in the agricultural industry as well as customers.
As a result, more consumers are turning to organic agricultural products which carry hefty price tags due to the limited supply, growing demand and high production costs.
In the interests of both sustainable health for farming, Manthita Wongpithakroj, CEO of NCG Trade and Consult Co Ltd, has turned her property into the Enduherb Social Enterprise Cheingsaparnboon Market. The outlet officially opened last month to sell chemical-free produce and products sourced from farms across the country.
NCG is founded on one basic principle: To operate a market for organic produce sold at prices below those of most other outlets. This is achieved by the market charging no rental fee for farmers’ produce and products placed there for sale.
Located on 4 rai of land along Ratchaphruek Road in Taling Chan district, the first phase of Enduherb houses a supermarket where customers can shop for numerous fresh and chemical-free agricultural products as well as processed foods made from organic vegetables, fruit and meat.
All organic products at the market come from livestock and agricultural farms including those in Nong Khai, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Buri Ram, Phetchabun and Ratchaburi.
Ms Manthita said the market can also “go mobile” as it brings the organic products for sale at festivals and open markets.
She explained the organic crops and products are directly purchased from farms, cutting out the middlemen who mark up prices.
With this tactic, the market is able to secure a regular supply of chemical-free produce. The farmers can also expect bigger margins from sales at the Enduherb market.
Meanwhile, consumers can pick up organic produce and other products at reasonable prices.
Ms Manthita said Thai supermarket shelves have featured organic products for years but that they still rank as a niche market due to their relatively high prices. The small size of the crops also push up prices, she added.
The question she now faces is how to make the company financially sustainable as she does not charge farmers a fee to display and sell their wares there.
The answer rests with the business model she has adopted. Ms Manthita set up a factory in Ratchaburi that manufactures organic matter, which helps adds more nutrients to soil so farmers that supply her market can profit more from its use.
By doing this, the farmers also help to foot the bill of transporting the produce to the market and hiring the staff who work there.
Ms Manthita said the company has a laboratory to test for chemical contaminants to further boost buyers’ confidence.
Determined to free farmers and consumers from the harmful effects of pesticides,
the 45-year-old daughter of a Chiang Rai farming family said the idea to promote and market organic produce surfaced when she visited farmland across the nation under
the firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes over the years.
The CSR activities mainly focus on encouraging farm owners to abstain from
With lower production costs, from factoring out the chemicals, consumers can now buy organic crops at more reasonable prices.
MANTHITA WONGPITHAKROJ
OWNER OF ENDUHERB SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
CHEINGSAPARNBOON MARKET
using agricultural chemicals. However, it lacked a sound business model that could result in lower prices and happy customers, she added.
During her many trips to the Central Plains and the Northeast, Ms Manthita witnessed the health of many farm workers deteriorate.
She said she noticed the same among regular customers as the chemical contaminants from the fruit and vegetables they consumed slowly built up inside their bodies.
She concocted a recipe for success which gave birth to the Enduherb organic market using the tagline: “Safe consumers, smiling farmers”.
“I’ve been working in this field my whole life. First we focused on feeding the broader industry but then we noticed how having farms depend on chemicals for a long time spells disaster for the future.”
“The faster the farmers grow their crops and send them to market, the more hooked they become on pesticides and fertilisers,” she said.
Ms Manthita said she arrived at the point where she felt her company should change tack. After farming for the larger agro-industry, she decided to go organic.
Her company then launched the factory in Ratchaburi specialising in fertiliser and soil, and catering mainly to organic vegetable farms.
Later, the firm teamed up with Mahidol University to develop technology to lower the cost of chemical-free farming.
The company initially launched 19 trial paddy fields in several areas around the country. After a series of experiments to add nutrients to the soil in Chiang Rai province, it found the land had become more suitable for growing 100% organic rice and cabbages.
Other fully organic staple vegetables such as morning glory, mustard greens, kale, red chillies, cowpeas and cucumbers were also ready to be harvested in fields in Suphan Buri in the Central Plains region, she said.
“With lower production costs, from factoring out the chemicals, consumers can now buy organic crops at more reasonable prices,” she added.
La-iad Kankan, 50, a melon farmer in Nakhon Sawan and a supplier of produce to the Enduherb market, said three years ago she grew cantaloupes that had been heavily sprayed with pesticides. She said she had no choice but to turn to chemicals because the plant was so susceptible to pests.
She started out growing cantaloupes but later switched to other kinds of melons after she met Ms Manthita, who suggested she forgo using chemicals in favour of organic farming methods.
Ms La-iad acquired melon seeds of an ultra-sweet variety from a fellow farmer and grew them in meshed houses to ward off insects.
The melons are harvested three times a year, each time earning her about 280,000 baht. Ms Manthita has guided her throughout the growing process, she said.
“And there are no middlemen to raise costs, as was the case with the cantaloupes,” she added.
Besides serving as a trading hub city residents and upcountry farmers, Ms Manthita said Enduherb doubles as a learning centre for people keen to know more about chemical-free agricultural practices.
Enduherb also houses several trial fields, a small-scale rice mill, a fish pond, rice, vegetable and mushroom farms. Practical knowledge is passed on to those who join the centre.
The market is particularly busy at weekends, when a demonstration is staged to show visitors how to transplant rice seedlings and how to make bottle gardens. Visitors can also learn about coffee roasting and the spinning of khanom jeen, or Thai fermented rice noodles.
Looking forward, Ms Manthita said the market will soon expand.
She envisages opening organic produce stores both nationwide and abroad, particularly in neighbouring countries. Cambodia and Vietnam are among the first on the radar as they are geographically similar to Thailand, she said.
They also share common commercial characteristics of the farming business, which could make it easier to introduce organic produce markets there, Ms Manthita noted.