FarMart
Research + Strategy
FarMart is a B2B start-up revolutionising the food supply ecosystem in India through SaaS.
The co-founder reached out with an interesting project that would allow FarMart to find a foothold in the B2C space. The project was to launch a sub-brand whose first product would be ‘flour’ — that would be used to directly sell fresh produce to people’s doorsteps.
My job was to carry out strategy and positioning alongside working with cross-functional teams to ensure a successful launch.
Spoiler — FarMart Pantry has gone on to sell over 100k+ bags since it’s launch.
Principle-driven approach
As a start-up with a profitable product and established customer base it is essential to look towards what’s beyond the horizon — to peer into what could grow the company further.
The momentum gained from product market fit must be maintained, it is better to move swiftly, experiment, learn and pivot than to rest on past laurels and stagnate.
Momentum does not mean a lack of structure or goals. Structure allows us to keep up the pace week-in week-out, maintain operational health and to avoid chasing butterflies.
Structures align us on delivering value to people.
Building structure
We used a roadmap to set the structure that outlined what needed to be done in order to deliver value to people.
This meant re-designing existing copy and content to position ourselves as a safe and traceable brand and communicating it through socials and a marketing website.
Designing an MVP
We used a roadmap to set the structure that outlined what needed to be done in order to deliver value to people.
This meant re-designing existing copy and content to position ourselves as a safe and traceable brand and communicating it through socials and a marketing website.
Defining what problem needs to be solved
It is important to find a balance between building towards a vision and building what people want. Vision-based products often miss current market needs.
The first problem here is not how we’re going to move over 5,000 SKUs but, how we’re going to position FarMart Pantry as the preferred choice.
As a new entrant in the market we cannot compete with the establishment directly, we must find our own slice of the pie.
Therefore, the immediate problem to solve is positioning.
Positioning FarMart Pantry
Much of the early process revolved around learning what were the underserved needs in the market and how we could position ourselves as the best solution providers.
We identified two key factors Accountability and Transparency that were not being addressed by competitors in an accessible form.
To answer questions about the brand we created a structure that would allow us to answer the what, how, who, where and when about our brand and mission as well as guide solution thinking.
FarMart Pantry is the only transparent food provider that shows where its products come from — for people who cook at home and care about both where their food comes from and its freshness.
Going to market
Once our foundation was in place we launched primarily through Instagram & influencer collaborations.
Our target customer were people who follow “healthy cooking” personalities as we knew that our product will be best understood and valued by people with such interests. Placing our product organically within content that our ideal customer consumes on a day-to-day basis will eventually compel them to try our product.
We designed the journey to be post-purchase friendly by adding accountability through a traceability feature that built an element of trust and reliability differentiating us, building recall and greatly increasing the chances of repeat sale.
Accountability, Transparency
and People First
I believe in extending my product philosophy — ingraining it into the lives of people aiding them in living a better life. This means being people first from the get-go and taking it past the sale.
Working with FarMart and it’s exceptionally driven people was a great learning experience that taught me to balance the needs of the people we aim to serve and the business we must help survive and grow.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Alekh Sanghera and Samridhi Singh for providing the opportunity to work with FarMart.
Designing for the betterment of people.