Join our Waitlist for Expert Advice!

Coronavirus: Ninjacart Helps the Needy With Subsidized Fresh Produce In order to service the slum areas and orphanages, the company said it is willing to partner with non-governmental organizations and similar institutions.

By Debroop Roy

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

Pixabay

Ninjacart, a Bengaluru-based fresh produce supply chain start-up, has provisioned essential fruits and vegetables to orphanages, old-age homes and slum areas, at subsidized rates, in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak-enforced lockdown in India.

In order to service the slum areas and orphanages, the company said it is willing to partner with non-governmental organizations and similar institutions across Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune and Ahmedabad.

"Ninjacart has always strived towards changing the way fruits and vegetables reach our plates, along with enhancing the income of farmers, convenience of retailers and ensuring safe food for all. During this time of crisis, it is all the more important that Ninjacart operates to ensure the essential commodities reach every citizen," said co-founder Thirukumaran Nagarajan, in a statement.

Reaching the People

The coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent lockdown has also resulted in massive supply side shortages for essentials and to tackle that, the company last week started supplying fresh fruits and vegetables to several residential communities and apartments.

Currently, the apartment solution has been made available in all seven cities that it serves and is serving more than 120 apartments on a daily basis. The organisation is facing a deluge of demand and has pipelined over 4000 residential spaces, which it said it aims to serve in a week's time.

"These are the challenging times for the less privileged communities as the retail prices of food items have hiked by 80 per cent and accessibility is a big challenge. We want to leverage Ninjacart's capability to solve these problems and make it convenient for these communities," Nagarajan said.

On average, Ninjacart sources 1,400 tonnes of fresh vegetables and fruits from more than 20,000 farmers and delivers them to over 60,000 retailers across the country.

As the ongoing 3-week-long lockdown has brought about disruptions across sectors, multiple start-ups have stepped up with different initiatives to help support the government and the people during the pandemic, from setting up funds to offering free services.

Debroop Roy

Former Correspondent

Covering the start-up ecosystem in and around Bangalore. Formerly an energy reporter at Reuters. A film, cricket buff who also writes fiction on weekends.
Starting a Business

I Quit My Corporate Job to Start a Business. Here's How I Went From Having $35,000 Credit Card Debt to Making $4 Million.

Courtney Allen, founder and CEO of presentation design agency 16x9, "recklessly" left corporate life behind in 2015 to pursue entrepreneurship.

Business News

Google's CEO Says AI Is Now Responsible for 25% of 'All New Code' Created at the Company

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said engineers are moving faster because of AI.

Business News

A Billionaire Founder Admits He Had 'Horrible Habits' — Then He Started a Morning Routine That 'Transformed' His Life

Kind Snacks founder Daniel Lubetzky used to go to sleep at 2 a.m. and skip his morning workout.

Leadership

Why Great Leaders Embrace Broad Thinking — and How It Transforms Organizations

What leaders think they know can cause narrowed thinking, limiting the ability to solve complex problems.

Business News

Read the Memo Dropbox's CEO Wrote to Staff Announcing Layoffs, Cutting 20% of Workforce

Dropbox CEO Drew Houston announced the company was laying off more than 500 employees in a blog post on Wednesday.