Billing for your organic store in Kerala
Red rice by the kilo, coconut oil by the litre and a farmer's lot with his name on it, all on your phone.
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Why a Kerala organic store sells a kilo, a litre and a piece off one shelf
Red rice from a sack, coconut oil from a tin, jaggery by the block
Nothing here comes in a printed packet, so nothing tells the customer what a fair rate is. She holds the matta rice in her hand and wonders if it costs more than elsewhere. The oil tin and the jaggery block have no rate printed either, and she decides the shop is dear without ever hearing why.
Jackfruit, mango and tender greens come when the trees decide
Some goods on an organic shelf come in a few weeks of the year, and a customer who asks for them out of season finds the place empty. When they come back you cannot remember what rate you set last year or how fast the lot went, so you price by guess and hope.
The hotel next door pays at the end of the month
The cook from the hotel next door sends for twenty kilos of red rice again and again and pays when the hotel's money comes. If each lot is a notebook line, the month ends in an argument about the total. The cook says four lots and you say five, and the hotel is the customer you cannot afford to argue with.
Tools for a shelf of loose rice, oil and jaggery
Bills on your phone
A bill that mixes 250 grams of banana powder, a litre of coconut oil and two pieces of jaggery, each at its own rate and unit.
Credit book (khata)
The page of the retired teacher next door, who takes a litre of oil and a kilo of rice now and then and pays what the page says on the day his pension comes.
Daily reports
The weeks of jackfruit, mango and greens kept day by day, so next season's order is made from last season's sales.
Palakkad paddy, Mattancherry spices and Kollam cashew: where an organic shelf in Kerala draws from
A shop that sells organic rice, oil and spices in Kerala hears about the trade of the districts from the farmers who come in.
- Paddy in Palakkad is concentrated in the Chittur, Alathur, Kuzhalmannam, Kollengode, Nenmara and Palakkad blocks, where yields of 3,000 kg a hectare are common.
- Mattancherry Spice Market in Kochi sells pepper, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, and Broadway Market is a wholesale market for spices and dry fruits.
- Cashew processing and coir are major trades in Kollam. The state cashew corporation runs 34 factories there.
From the farmer's lot at the door to the family that asks where it came from
The jaggery warning before the payasam weeks
Jaggery sells slowly for months, and then the payasam weeks empty the heap in days. Set a warning on the jaggery, and the phone tells you before it runs out, while the maker can still bring more.
The hotel cook's twenty kilos and the housewife's half kilo are two items
The hotel next door takes red rice in bulk at one rate, and the housewife takes it by the half kilo at the shop rate. Keep them as two items. Each delivery to the hotel is a bill on its page, ready as a total on the fifth, and the evening count shows how much of the sack went in bulk and how much in small lots.
Last year's jackfruit weeks open on the phone
When the jackfruit season comes again, open the same weeks of last year. You see the rate you set and how fast the lot went. If it went fast at that rate, this year's rate can be higher; if it sat, lower. You can explain that rate to a family that asks.
A farmers' market stall and an online shop on one stock list
Questions Kerala organic store owners ask
I fill 100 gram packs from the loose banana powder. How does the loose count come down?
A pack of 100 grams is 100 grams out of the sack. Fill the packs in one sitting, so one evening count covers them all. The packs and the loose powder together should come to what the sack held, and a difference shows the same evening.
A customer asks whether the matta rice is certified. What do I tell her?
Tell her what you hold. For a lot with a paper, say it is certified and show the paper. For the rest, say it is from a farmer you know, and give the name. Write nothing on the bill that you cannot show.
Kudumbashree women's groups bring produce with no bill. How do I record where it came from?
The group gives no bill, so what you write is the only record. Write what you took while the group is standing in front of you, and give the group the figure before it leaves, so you both carry the same number.
Kerala's organic farmers and the Nature's Fresh kiosks
Kerala's organic farming policy says certified organic farmers there grow mainly spices, tea and coffee for export, while others grow food crops without certification. An organic shop in Kerala can sell both kinds side by side, and keeping them as separate items keeps the difference clear on the bill.
On 25 January 2024 Kudumbashree opened 11 'Nature's Fresh' agri kiosks across Kerala, selling organic vegetables, fruits and products made by its women's groups. A small organic store shares its town with such kiosks, and the regular customers it keeps by name are its own.