Gandamunda HaatFor final submission for course : Rural & Inclusive Marketing

India’s Rural Markets –

Fortune At The Bottom Of The

Pyramid. Both for buyers and sellers.

Gandamunda Haat: Not just rural, not yet

urban

Set up by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation in

2006.

Situated in Southern fringes of the city

176 vending stalls

Mr. Braja Kishore Pradhan, 45

Lives in Dumduma, Bhubaneswar

Seller in Gandamunda Haat

There is a reason I stock only Potatoes and

Onions. First of all, they are not easily

perishable.

Secondly, suppliers comparatively take

lesser commissions on buying these.

Thirdly, more vegetables mean more risk.

BCG Matrix

Onions

Potato

Drumsticks

Sweet Potato

I only sell a very limited amount and variety of vegetables. Every time I come to set shop, I have to take money from others.

So, do you go to a bank?

No. I go to temple priests and beggars. Bank people only ask for documents

People do not have time these days. They just want to come, pay money, take their stuff and go.

By packaging my Potatoes like this, I have made their lives easier.

Mohammad Sabir, 39Lives in Gandamunda

Village

Tailor by training, trader by choice

BCG Matrix

Papaya,Pumpkin

Tomato,Potato

Drumsticks

Banana,Kunduri

Green and leafy vegetables that I get from villages outside Bhubaneswar have been very profitable for me.

I feel that these days customers has lost appetite for vegetables like Kunduri and Kankada. Not just me, overall in the haat their demand is low.

3-4 of us who buy from Kuberpur load our stocks together in a single auto. That is how everyone wins and saves transportation costs.

And what about the leftover stock?

My wife lets me use the fridge. I sell it at Sunderpada the next day.

People think that some of us cheat and that we sell sub-standard products.

Sir, let me assure you that we are not bad people.

We raise our kids and families in a respectable society.

We also care for the city and use lo-power bulbs in the haat. It costs more, but we still use it.

Since the concept of credit is practically non-existent in the haat, sellers have devised and practise unique mechanisms to safely manage cash they collect and give out as change

Mr Kali Shankar Chand, 68Lives in Jagmohan Nagar

Retired Public Servant, Now a full-time Home

Manager

Has been going to Gandamunda Haat since

2009.

Previously, there were only a countable number of stalls that sold regular vegetables. But these days, you will find everything from oil, spice and clothing in the haat. There’s a jeweller now, and he does good business.

Despite the fact that there is a new Reliance Fresh in the neighbourhood, I don’t think most customers I know will abandon the haat.

Every time, I come to the haat, there is a sense of social bonding with people I stumble upon,

This haat is no less than a Reliance Fresh. Expect that it doesn’t have a roof or air-conditioning.

Mrs Sharmistha Hota, 50Lives in Green Park

Housewife

Has been going to Gandamunda Haat since it

started in 2006.

Being a seasoned shopper in the haat ever since it’s inception, Mrs Hota feels that the quality of the products have gone down

Onions, Potatoes and Tubers

20%

Green Vegetables40%

Seasonal Vegetables15%

Fruits10%

Seafood15%

How Mrs Hota spends INR 500 in the Haat

“Keshab is an auto driver by the day and the society’s watchman by the night.

When Keshab’s wife goes to the haat, she doesn’t go alone. Other neighbours of hers who stay in the servant quarters go together in a group.

During the festival season, they also buy clothes and dresses from the clothing

merchant in the haat.”

When it comes to buying groceries like oil, flour, spices and toiletries; they get the benefit of buying smaller SKUs of each product and since Keshab’s wife and her friends buy in large quantities, the shopkeeper also gives them a discount outright.

In addition to the available items, the rice dealer, the fish trader also have very high demand for their products.

So does the mushroom seller. It is also interesting to note that outside the haat, there is a van that sells incense sticks, gram flour and fryums made by a SHG.

Q. Do your parents know that you are here?

“They sent us. Me and my Brother come here everyday after School.

We KNOW we need to learn this business.”- Kalia, 6th Grader and Seller at Gandamunda

Q. How is the supply chain being impacted by the government?

“The way the input cost for farmers is rising against the unremunerated prices of crops, I am sure farmers’ income will shrink to half of what they are earning today, what to talk of doubling the income”

- Kumuti Sahu, 37, vendor at Gandamunda on Union Budget 2016

Q. Lastly, what do you think about the competition in the farming sector and e-commerce?“It is only 1 per cent of farming community like progressive growers who will take benefit of online marketing. What about small and marginal farmers who usually become the victims of low prices and vagaries of weather conditions?”

- Rama Behura, vegetable farmer from Pipili and seller at Gandamunda Haat

All Photographs taken on location.The format of this document has been inspired by Intellectual Observers, Visual Research Enquiries 1.0 – Mandar RaneThis document is best viewed on Adobe Reader.

BIPASHA GHOSH / UR15014

NANDINI RAJ / UR15024

SAMPAD ACHARYA / UR15037

SATISH CHANDRA TIYU / UR15040

SHASHANK GUWALANI / UR15041

SWATI MOHANTY / UR15045