Centre asks hotels to buy direct from farmers, cut out middlemen
New Delhi, Nov 24: Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi on Monday asked hotels and restaurants to buy produce directly from farmer-producer organisations (FPOs) to improve returns for growers by eliminating middlemen from the supply chain.
The secretary also called on the hospitality industry to promote Geographical Indication (GI) tagged food products to enhance the dining experience for tourists and visitors. “We have a large number of hotels and restaurants across the country. And if you are able to develop a partnership with the local farming community to get authentic food, vegetables, spices, and other things, then it will be a win-win situation,” said Chaturvedi while addressing the FPO–Hospitality & Farmers’ Benefit Summit 2025, organised by the Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI). He emphasized that direct FPO–hotel linkages would form a powerful win-win model—boosting farmers’ incomes while enabling hotels to source premium, largely chemical-free ingredients.
Chaturvedi highlighted that India now hosts nearly 40,000 FPOs, many offering produce that naturally aligns with the hospitality sector’s rising demand for clean, safe, and sustainable food. He underscored that farmers continue to face an inverted pricing cycle—buying inputs at retail prices but selling produce at wholesale—an imbalance that can be corrected only through direct procurement partnerships with hotels. He added that the Government is promoting organic farming, GI-tagged products, and responsible tourism, citing the Kumarakom Model in Kerala as a benchmark for sustainable industry–community integration.
Suman Billa, Additional Secretary & Director General, Ministry of Tourism, said India needs a fast-tracked, structured farmer–hotel partnership architecture. Such a model, he noted, would accelerate the Government’s vision while uplifting rural livelihoods and strengthening tourism-driven value chains. FHRAI President Surendra Kumar Jaiswal reaffirmed the readiness of hotels to procure directly from FPOs—provided supply is consistent and quality-assured. MP Bezbaruah, Secretary-General, HAI, reiterated the long-standing demand for granting infrastructure status to hotels to unlock broader development opportunities. Industry leaders including Rahool Macarius (Wyndham Hotels & Resorts), Vishvapreet Singh Cheema (Lemon Tree Hotels), and Ankita Jaiswal (HRANI & UPHRA) also shared insights during the inaugural session.
