Urmatt is Thailand’s largest and most integrated organic crops and foods group dedicated to inclusive business that empowers economically challenged farming communities. Founded by Chairman Arvind Narula in 1982, organic operations began in 1999 with produce shipped to all major regions of the world. Two decades later, it has become the largest producer of organic Jasmine rice in the world.

Agriculture

Long before the advent and mainstreaming of official impact investing, Narula developed a moral platform and wanted to work with like-minded people to find opportunities no one else was doing for profit. After visiting farmers, he realised they can also benefit using the same platform. With sales growth greater than 20% per annum, Narula self-funded the projects until 2014 before accepting funds from impact investors, to help scale up the business and help even more people. There were around 3,000 farmers who joined the rice project and they earned at least 20% higher than those who were not in the project. Urmatt operates a contract farming scheme that works with the poorest farmers and guarantees them training, education and a better return. Urmatt also provides other kinds of support to communities at no cost, which includes solar lighting to villages with no electricity, water pumps, temple repairs, and equipment. One touching example of Narula’s leadership in the field is the business partnership to produce eggs with the remote hilltop tribes. The idea behind this is to produce organic food in a way that is good for the land and the families by working with rural farmers in underdeveloped areas. The partnership also ensures that the land is farmed in a respectful and sustainable manner while the rural farmers receive their fair share in the sales. By transferring knowledge of organic agriculture and growing the skill sets of the farmers and their families, The Hilltop Tribe project aims to at least double family income and create real and lasting social change and development within the tribes. The project has been audited by the HEC University of Paris, and it received high ratings. The MBA students lived with the farmers for several weeks to fully understand the impact.