The first of its kind franchise store of Simply Desi was opened at Pune, Maharashtra which was inaugurated by the BJP Maharashtra unit President Chandrakant Dada Patil in the presence of senior co-operator and RBI Board member Satish Marathe.
Sahakar Bharati’s initiative Simply Desi is planning to open more than 100 stores in the span of two years in different states of the country.
Simply Desi is providing a platform to the Self-Help Groups and other co-ops to sell their products and earn a handsome profit. At present more than 1200 SHGs are associated with Simply Desi. There are around 214 ranges of products that are wholly made by the downtrodden women and others.
Talking to Indian Cooperative on the new enterprise, senior co-operator Satish Marathe said, “Simply Desi’s main objective is to strengthen the Self-Help Groups, Joint Liability Groups and Women Entrepreneurs and to make them self-reliant.
“It offers them a platform to sell their products and the packaging work is being taken care of by Simply Desi. Simply Desi has tied up with a company for packaging of products”, informed Marathe on the phone.
“In another step, we are planning to organize a massive campaign on social media, which will help in the marketing of products made by the women of the country. We will also sell their products through e-commerce websites. We are not compromising on quality standards”, claimed Marathe who was also present during the opening of the franchise store at Pune.
Buoyed with the success of the stall set up at the Indian International Trade Fair and several other places, Marathe said we are getting fruitful responses from the audience and getting good feedback. Even during the Sahakar Bharati event at Lucknow held recently, scores of products of Simpy Desi were sold out.
According to an estimate there are around 56 lacs SHGs that are working in different fields. Due to a lack of marketing of their products, these SHGs failed to get the best price and market.
Today Simply Desi is selling different products including agricultural products, Masalas, Dry Fruits, Tea, Juice, handloom, Handwash, hair care, dental care, textiles, and others.