29 September,2020 09:58 AM IST | Mumbai | Sukanya Datta
Their store in Juhu
Juhu-based sound engineer and scuba diver Tilak Goswami and his wife, Supriya Sarin, an advertising professional, know that it's ambitious to want to live the organic life. "The switch takes time and is difficult. You can't eliminate eating out all the time, or in times of need or unavailability, you may have to buy processed food. It's all about adapting," shares Goswami. It is with this sustainable approach that the couple started their organic store, Vnya, in Juhu last month, offering all kinds of natural products that cater to personal care, oils, probiotics, pets, vegetables, dairy, superfoods, cleaning, and snacks, among other essentials.
Sarin, however, insists that it's not just about selling organic produce; they hope to contribute in making little differences to people's habits. One of the simple ways they devised, inspired by old kirana stores, is to promote grocery refilling, as opposed to buying it packaged. The 35-year-olds tell us that the idea sparked off as they struggled with logistics to make theirs a zero-waste store. "So, we got glass jars to store the grains, pulses, flours, etc. We encourage people to bring their dabbas along, and refill the same with the product. We don't put a limit on how much you want to fill. They can also take our jar, pay a deposit, and bring it back later," explains Goswami, adding they have a small compost pit, reuse old packaging to deliver online orders, and upcycle everything to minimise waste as far as possible.
Tilak Goswami and Supriya Sarin
While it's difficult to store produce in glass jars, as opposed to plastic in terms of longevity and finance, the couple points out that they didn't want to add to the problem they set out to address.
When we ask them how the idea of a store came about, Sarin points to one of their four-legged family members, Leo, a cocker spaniel, who developed an auto-immune disease. "After trying various measures, we made his diet entirely natural. That helped stabilise him, and later, we adopted the same method when my father-in-law underwent chemotherapy. We wanted people to feel the difference we felt," she says, adding they have curated all the products from across India, keeping in mind a clean supply chain, seasons and location. "Organic eating is one thing, but it has to be a way of life. We're glad people are responding to our
effort," she adds.
At Shop no 3, Shiv Sagar building, AB Nair Road, JVPD scheme, Mum-bai-49
Time 10.30 am to 8 pm
Log on to vnya.in
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