Alumni connect: Summer internships honed my skills, says Satyajit Hange of Two Brothers Organic Farms
Hange’s venture has won global recognition for spreading the awareness to opt for organic food.
Satyajit Hange, 39, decided to abandon his corporate career to go back to his roots, literally. Hange, alumnus of Pumba ( The department of management sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University), hails from a farming family. Along with his brother Ajinkya, Hange started Two Brothers Organic Farms which has won global recognition for spreading the awareness to opt for organic food. Hange speaks about his journey so far.
Tell us about your educational background.
I graduated with an Economics degree from Fergusson College in 2002 and went on to do my MBA in Marketing from PUMBA - Department of Management Sciences, University of Pune. I was an average student, more interested in application than in theory.
What happened after graduation?
After graduating from Pumba, I was placed as a management trainee in Kotak Life Insurance through campus recruitment drive. I worked for a year, then moved to Citibank. I have switched many jobs after that. Being from a farming family, I was always tied to my roots.
I headed the department of Technology at Bharati Vidyapeeth for 4 years. Though I was professionally well placed, the urge to go to the roots was getting stronger day by day. So, I took the decision and along with my brother Ajinkya, established Two Brothers Organic Farms in September 2014 in Bhodani village, near Pune.
Tell us about your career journey?
A: My brother and I gave up our corporate careers to do farming. We did face a lot of resistance and challenges.
One of the major challenges was to produce 100 per cent organic products. We understood that it was through organic farming, that we can truly enrich the soil.
Our farm brand Amorearth was launched and we tied up with several retail chains. Now, we also have an online platform, and we supply to customers across 12 different countries and have been rated as the best organic online shop in India by Vogue India. Apart from this, another high point was when IIM invited us for the campus recruitment drive. Thus we became the first farmers to recruit talent from IIMs into the farming business.
Tell us about your venture, Two Brothers Organic Farms(TBOF).
We began TBOF in September 2014 in a lovely village Bhodani near Pune, out of the pure passion for farming organically and growing our own food and helping turn our soils fertile. We produce pure organic fruits and breed Indian indigenous A2 Cows (Gir Cows).
How did the institution help you to be what you are today?
A: A lot of learning happens out of classrooms. The institution gave me the much needed space and practical exposure. The summer internships honed my skills and later on helped me take up leadership roles.
What are your future plans?
The plan is to keep doing what I love to do. I also believe in keeping joy as the most important factor in all that I do. We, as a company, are planning on expanding to other places. We are also planning to rope in more farmers and help them grow the fully organic way.
Your message to the youth.
Life is all about risks. Don’t wait for help from anyone. If you have an idea and you think it is right, go ahead and start doing it. You have just one life to live. So, follow your intuition and go ahead.