Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (MS)
Bengaluru, Jun 6: A sibling duo who took the casual statement of their mother seriously ended up starting a project on the matter and are earning Rs 8 crore per year now.
Yashodha Karaturi and Ria are the sisters who listened to their mother’s statement of shortage of flowers for pooja in the capital city and started ‘Hoovu.’ They invented a model of supplying all kinds of flowers to the doorsteps every morning just like milk and newspaper.
The business which started with just Rs 10 lac investment is earning Rs 8 crore today. Yashodha and Ria started this flower subscription start-up in 2019. This was not new to them as they grew up in a family which had the background of flower business.
Ria, one of the sisters, says, “Our father Ram Karturi had rose farms in Kenya, Ethiopia and India. That is why we are aware of this industry.”
Yashodha says, “Though in India, the flower bouquet market is more or less organized, no one has paid attention to the traditional flower market meant for pooja rituals. They lose their freshness as the flower delivered to the consumers is not organized.”
“We have direct partnerships with flower farmers. They used to bring their flowers to the local market. But we buy directly to save time and preserve freshness. We have partnerships with more than 50 flower growers of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamilnadu,” says Ria.
After buying flowers from farmers, the sisters ensure that they are cleaned properly to remove its moisture. They also have a good quality packing process which keeps the flower fresh for 15 days.
The sisters’ venture has helped many small-time farmers who had to invest time and money to take their flowers to the market.
Yashodha says, “We depend on the online delivery companies like Big Basket, Grofers, Super Daily, Zomato, Milk Basket, FTH Daily and Zepto for our deliveries. We provide all kinds of flowers from loose to garlands and Tulasi and Dharba grass.”
“We receive more than 1.5 lac orders per month from Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mysuru, Pune, Mumbai, Gurugram and Noida. We have introduced incense sticks from 2021. That business is also successful,” says an elated Yashodha.