Representatives from Indian Farmers’ Movement (INFAM), a farmers’ body from Kerala held an interaction with the members of the Honey Bee Network to discuss some of their innovations and problems. The team also included a few innovators. One such innovator,  Joy John, had brought with him a light-weight milking machine with a simple design which would allow easy assembly, disassembly and cleaning. Prof AK Gupta showed them the milking machine made by Raghava Gowda which the Network is already supporting. On behalf of the Network, Prof Gupta offered them a similar support and also suggested them to collaborate with Gowda if they so wish. Moreover, impressed with its simplicity and lightness, the National Innovation Foundation bought the machine.

John Pottas showed his range of honey-based genuine vanilla products.  He complained that because of no regulations on proper labelling of vanilla products, most consumers are not aware which products contain genuine vanilla and which ones contain synthetic vanilla essence. Consequently, the business of genuine vanilla products suffers. In fact, INFAM has been fighting the battle against semi-synthetic vanilla producers since a long time.

These products will soon be available at the Sattvik store, near Mansi circle in Ahmedabad. The store aims to bring the offerings and essence of the Sattvik food festival all round the year to the consumers of Ahmedabad.