FOOD SUPPLY ECOSYSTEM
The 2025 FPO–Hospitality & Farmers’ Benefit Summit has spotlighted a long-overdue shift in India’s food supply ecosystem: direct, structured partnerships between Farmer Producer Organizations and the hospitality sector.
At a time when hotels and restaurants are increasingly prioritising clean, sustainably sourced ingredients, the government’s push for institutionalised procurement linkages is both timely and transformative.
Agriculture Secretary’s call for long-term agreements reflects the need to correct the persistent “inverted price cycle” that disadvantages farmers across the country especially in UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
By sourcing directly from FPOs, hotels can help eliminate layers of intermediaries, ensuring farmers receive fairer prices while securing consistent access to high-quality produce.
With nearly 40,000 FPOs operating nationwide, the potential for scaling such relationships is immense.
The summit’s emphasis on organic cultivation, GI-tagged produce and community-based tourism, exemplified by Kerala’s Kumarakom Model signals a broader vision of integrating rural economies with national growth sectors.
The Tourism Director General rightly argued for a fast-tracked farmer–hotel partnership framework to unlock rural prosperity and strengthen tourism-linked value chains.
