Mumbai’s Only A2 Milk brand led by a Mother to offer the Safest Transition Milk to Your Child
The birth of a child is the most special moment in a woman’s life which changes her completely or rather makes her complete. Juggling home and office makes her ignorant towards her own health but when it comes to the health of her little one, a mother wants to give the best things in the world to her child. The journey of Bahawa Organic Farm started from one such mother whose small initiative taken for her son took the form of a company serving organic dairy needs of hundreds of happy mothers today.
“We started Bahawa to Serve, not to Sell”, says Rohini Dangore, Founder of Bahawa Organic Farm.
What made her start Bahawa?
Being an avid reader, she was aware of the growing adulteration problem that was rampant in India. News on how milk was not only being diluted with unclean water, but also mixed with urea, detergents or foaming agents and harmful chemicals, started disturbing more to a mother this time than a woman she was earlier.
While babies feed on mother’s milk until they are a year old, the real challenge was the transition milk to be given to the child as they grow a year older and need to be introduced to milk available in the market.
After extensive research on the safest transition milk to be given to children, Rohini realized that Indian cow’s milk is closest to Mother’s milk as it is fortified with all the vital nutrients like calcium, protein, vitamins and minerals which are required for the healthy growth and development of babies. Her findings also showed that only raw A2 milk keeps all milk nutrients intact as compared to processed milk. Most of the essential nutrients in milk are lost during pasteurization and homogenization.
Knowing this, she started exploring milk providers offering raw Desi cow milk. While some companies claiming to offer pure milk actually offered milk from jersey cows, some others boasted of desi cow milk but it was pasteurized and homogenized milk devoid of whole milk nutrients.
That was the moment when a mother realized that the only way to see a change is to bring the change.
Beginning of a new journey
In 2018, with support from her family and some friends, Rohini started building her own farm near Badlapur, Mumbai and was determined to make it a healthier abode for desi Gir cows as well as become a single source of farm fresh A2 milk for her customers.
Hearing customers sharing their experiences on how satisfied they were with the milk quality and how their children loved it, Rohini decided to shift the operations to a bigger farm.
Thus, in 2020, the cows were shifted to a new home near Alandi, Pune which at present, has more cows, more space but same commitment to quality and nutrition.
Impact of Industrialization on Indian Dairy Industry
“Operation Flood program which was started by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in the 1970s promoted aggressive cross breeding of desi cows with exotic cow breeds like Jersey, Holstein Friesian, etc to meet the growing need of milk in the country. The crossbred cattle used to produce more milk than our indigenous desi cows and thus their demand kept increasing day by day,” Rohini says.
While the concept of foreign breed cows containing A1 and A2 protein and desi cows containing only A2 protein is gaining attention, customers have become increasingly aware of choosing A2 protein enriched desi cow milk over milk of foreign breed cows.
What does our age-old Indian wisdom say?
Rohini emphasizes the fact that our forefathers enjoyed great health and wellbeing by consuming fresh and desi cow’s raw A2 milk.
Whether processed milk has less nutritional value than raw milk is a debatable topic, age old Indian wisdom believes milk to be consumed in its most natural form — raw, unprocessed and freshly milked.
Freshly milked raw A2 milk in Eco-friendly packaging
“We offer fresh and pure RAW A2 milk of Desi Gir cows in glass bottles to your doorstep within 12 hours of milking the cows. As compared to foreign cow milk, A2 milk of desi cows is loaded with nutrients to reap maximum benefits from your glass of milk,” informs Rohini.
Along with A2 milk, Bahawa also offers other byproducts of milk like A2 ghee prepared using the traditional bilona method, preservative or artificial flavor free A2 Shrikhand, fresh A2 paneer, A2 curd and wood pressed cooking oils.
In case you are looking to try their products, their A2 milk and A2 shrikhand is popular among the customers. A2 Shrikhand is performing extremely well since its launch and its demand is increasing day by day. Often, we get positive reviews of shrikhand for its superior taste, soft consistency and preservative free concoction. For some customers, this shrikhand has become a mandate to grace most of their family functions. Thus, we have plans now to come up with different flavors in shrikhand to entice the taste buds of a wider audience”, shares Rohini.
Quality comes at a Price
Since organic products are mostly charged higher than their regular counterparts, one common query Rohini faces from customers is about the high price of the product. When asked how she handles such queries, she says, “It’s normal for customers to inquire on price issues. However, we always insist our customers to try our product first as that itself will put their queries to rest. When you are confident of your product quality, it’s not difficult to win your customer’s trust.”
Nurturing cows is next to Godliness
Cows have always been looked upon as sacred and holy in Indian culture. However, some industrialization processes have become insensitive toward them. Automated milking, being tied up to a confined place in factories, restrictions on their movement and expression, separation from their calves post-delivery, are some brutal practices that are still rampant in our society.
“For us, cows on the farm are our family. They aren’t tied up to a restricted space. They graze freely and are fed nutritional fodder infused with ayurvedic herbs to keep them happy and healthy. Machines don’t understand feelings and hence, our cows are milked by hand. Regular checks are conducted to ensure overall wellbeing of the cows,” says Rohini.
Seamless Customer Experience at the core
They have recently launched a seamless user-friendly mobile app which is now available for downloads on android and iOS devices. You can also buy their products on their official website.
The vision of the company is to educate new Mothers, fitness enthusiasts, elderly citizens or simply anyone who wants to adopt a healthy lifestyle by increasing the awareness of the wholesome goodness our Desi Cow milk has to offer.
Motto of Bahawa Organic Farm
“Every child deserves good health and nutrition which obviously starts from milk. We want to become the most preferred choice of customers for desi milk and extend the benefits of wholesome dairy to every household in India”, concludes Rohini.
