{"id":17265,"date":"2021-02-27T12:05:27","date_gmt":"2021-02-27T06:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.instamojo.com\/blog\/?p=17265"},"modified":"2021-06-20T02:35:04","modified_gmt":"2021-06-19T21:05:04","slug":"how-hoopoe-on-a-hill-empowers-adivasi-communities-by-selling-honey-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.instamojo.com\/blog\/how-hoopoe-on-a-hill-empowers-adivasi-communities-by-selling-honey-online\/","title":{"rendered":"How Hoopoe On a Hill Empowers An Adivasi Community By Selling Honey Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nishita Vasanth and Priyashri Mani’s Kodaikanal based startup ‘Hoopoe on a hill’ is empowering an Adivasi community and preserving an age-old tradition of procuring honey organically.<\/p>\n

Nishita and Priyashri originally hail from Bengaluru and were employees with Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). Their work led them to pay a visit to the Paliyan tribe in Kodaikanal, from who they purchased a lot of honey from. In fact, they had purchased so much honey, they thought of selling some to the public.\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

\"Founders<\/a>
Founders – Nishita Vasanth and Priyashri Mani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And that is how \u2018Hoopoe on a hill was born.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hoopoe – the name is a tribute to the Hoopoe bird who used to pay frequent visits to their home in Kodaikanal. The NGO duo soon donned their entrepreneur hats and once the name was finals, began selling the honey offline.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From hills to cities – how Hoopoe sells honey online\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Selling the honey offline from a small town like Kodaikanal proved beneficial thanks to reduced labour and production costs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But how would they sell the honey?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nishita and Priyashri set up a website to sell their honey. They collected the honey from the Adivasi community, and stored it in jars and packaging they secured from a Bengaluru vendor. Thanks to the India post, logistics is also not an issue for the Hoopoe on a hill team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201c There was greater value in building something here in Kodaikanal, than in setting up in Bengaluru.\u201d – Priyashri\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Rightfully so, setting up a business in tier 2 hill nations allowed Nishita and Priyashri to closely work with the men and women of the community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Empowering the Paliyan tribe\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
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\u201c We currently have over 6 female employees who are also learning to adapt to technology. Women here do not have access to daily wage jobs as much as men. So, we wanted to give them sustainable job opportunities and support themselves.\u201d – Priyashri for Yourstory\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Nishita and Priyashri work closely with the community without getting in the way of their honey extraction process. Once the honey is prepared, they buy it from the tribe for Rs 450-650 per kg and bottle it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The sweet story of Hoopoe\u2019s Honey\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Here\u2019s a beautiful backstory to the process of the delicious and organic honey you buy from Hoopoe on a hill – the story of the Paliyan tribe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Paliyans are an indigenous tribe in the Palani hills. The tribe foray into the\u00a0Shola forests in groups for days on end to gather the honey. They camp in the forests and build their tools on the spot with vines and dried twigs.<\/p>\n

The people offer a prayer before they skilfully climb the trees, caves, and cliffs to get the honey from the hives.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No bees were harmed:\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The tribe smokes out the bees, swiftly collects only the honey chamber of the hive. The honeycombs are brought down and the honey is extracted. This is not just a recent process, the advise tribe have been trading honey for decades; often in exchange for money, or clothes, or staples.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What honey can you buy?\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

As pure as it gets, Hoopoe on a hill sells wild, natural honey;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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  • Wild Cerana honey – collected from the crevices of trees, packed with medicinal properties<\/li>\n
  • Bitter Jamun honey – bittersweet in taste, collected from trees and rock cliffs<\/li>\n
  • Eucalyptus honey – from the Eucalyptus trees\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  • Multi-floral honey – collected from flowers like Kurunji, Venga and Pungala<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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    Buy the rich, copper-coloured Multifloral honey from https:\/\/t.co\/vRxPZH5EYR<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/bDtuHEQWnw<\/a><\/p>\n

    \u2014 Hoopoe on a Hill (@hoopoekodai) August 24, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n