Sid’s Farm has its genesis in the entrepreneurial dream of Kishore Indukuri, a US-returned engineer, but evolved to ensure the well-being of the community.

As a youngster, Kishore had achieved what every other Telugu boy dreams of — entering an IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) and building a career in the USA. Eventually, this IIT Kharagpur and University of Massachusetts alumnus had a six-year stint at Intel Corporation in USA, by which time he began visualising his weekends as an entrepreneur reading a book under a tree.

Reality, however, had other plans for him. In 2013, he returned to Hyderabad, keen to start his entrepreneurial venture. He explored a few ideas and saw a huge opportunity in Hyderabad’s dearth of pure and unadulterated milk. That is when he established Sid’s Farm; that put paid to his plans to read books, forget about sitting under a tree.

From Intel to milking

Why would an engineer want to become a doodhwala (milkman)? It was a romantic dream in the beginning, laughs Kishore. Back then his only target was to invest his savings and make enough money to lead a laidback, cushy life. “I said to myself, I just need a certain amount and we will run the business. It was like a promise to our son Siddhartha that we will produce the best milk possible and deliver the same to our customers. Hence Sid’s Farm.”

The milk collection gallons | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Even as Sid’s Farm was being conceived, Kishore had a small education facility, as a side hustle. “I conducted education workshops in engineering colleges. We would dismantle a bike and put it back. In engineering colleges, students are not given hands-on training, so that’s where I stepped in. In an electrical engineering course, no one opens a chip. If we take a polishing paper and grind one side of a chip, we can see the circuit. I did all this in an intuitive class.”

Finally, Kishore had to take a call, on the education workshops or the farm. “I chose the dairy business even though it was riddled with hurdles. It needed me.”

Sid’s Farm started small, with a herd of 20 cattle and a small team. Kishore says, “We were hardly a team, I used to handle calls on delivery and orders; we began supplying milk directly to customers in Hyderabad.“ The direct-to-customer company aims to provide pure, healthy, adulterant-free milk and milk products which translates to milk and dairy products free of antibiotics, hormones and preservatives; in other words, it meets all quality parameters daily.

Kishore recalls, “From 2013, it took me three years to realise my dream. I didn’t anticipate the many things needed to run the business, so I faced several hurdles; the first being at the end of the first year, I ran out of money.”

Milk churner | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Initially, Kishore recalls “The team came at a certain time in the morning, milked, packed and off they went. This was a business that started in Hyderabad and clientele grew by word of mouth. “We were such a tiny team that we didn’t even think of promoting it on social media. Starting their day at 4 am, the timings started to roll back to 3 am and then 2 am, as the clientele grew.” 

That is when, Kishore says, they realised they had created something to win the confidence of the people. “We initially delivered raw milk in steel cans.” After noticing spillage during transportation, they shifted to glass bottles. As the demand started going up, the team decided to go for pasteurisation and milk pouches.    

Spreading wings

Since then, the brand has grown manifold, achieving 100% YoY growth in the past few years. Currently, the company serves over 20,000 customers daily on a subscription basis. Currently, Sid’s Farm has a 4,000-square-foot milk processing facilityand a model dairy farm on another 1.5 acres of land, both at Chevella in Hyderabad. They work closely with more than 2,500 farmers who source milk using sustainable dairy farming practices. The Farm’s in-house state-of-the-art laboratory conducts, on average, over 6,500 tests daily at four levels to look for any adulteration in milk. The milk is then pasteurised, chilled and delivered directly to the customer.

Before leaving the US, Kishore took a week’s course in food processing. “More than that, it was the amazing set of people that helped me throughout. Without the good people I am working with, I wouldn’t have been able to achieve even 1% of what I have. Thanks to ORR (outer ring road), we were able to cater to West Hyderabad. As the business grew, we realised we were delivering milk 730 times a year. In this process, a few accidents happened. So we shifted to glass bottles in 2019. Then we invested in a basic pasteurisation facility. I decided to learn the basics of dairy processing. ” 

Learning from challenges

When he ran out of money in the first year, Kishore raised money from his family. “This business posed so many challenges; it has taken me to a low I didn’t imagine existed. At the same time, it gave me that kick to climb back. I enjoyed the challenges because in the process, I met so many intelligent people. Be it with their ideas on water conservation or milk testing, you name it, I have had many of my customers come to me to help with their expertise.”  

Kishore Indukuri of Sid’s Farm | Photo Credit: Special Arrangements

The team is now led by a dedicated staff from IIT/NIT/IIM/XLRI, JNTU, OU, NDRI and other reputed institutions in India who are equally passionate about good and safe milk, getting a glimpse into the daily operations.

The present 4,000-square-foot milk processing facility in Chevella was a barren land when it was purchased. After three attempts at installing a borewell failed, they dug six-foot trenches and filled them with coconut shells and cow dung. “All around the property; we dug trenches and filled them with organic matter like coconut shells, leaves, cow dung, and wood. As a result, when it rained, the trenches started to retain the water and the water table on the land went up.”