We were first drawn to Tillage’s produce after hearing the passion with which siblings Saloni Anchan, a lawyer, and Shival Shah, a chartered accountant, spoke about local and seasonal ingredients. Founded by them in 2020, Tillage is a Mumbai-based company that seeks to bring high-quality produce—grown by a network of trusted farmers across India—onto our plates.
The idea for Tillage took root in their 20-acre farm in Mansa, Gujarat, as a way to support their gaushala which houses over a 100 cows. At first, Saloni and Shival sold jowar and bansi wheat from the farm. But as the demand grew, they created a network of farmers who offered high-quality produce, and expanded their range of products to include flours, sweeteners, ghee, and fresh fruits.
Over two years, Tillage has identified and partnered with producers through referrals and rigorous testing with the intention of spotlighting local produce, and making it accessible to urban consumers. Today, they sell ragi flour from Kolhapur, jaggery powder from Erode district, rajgira flour from Nashik, and fresh fruits from Mangalore, Panchgani, Gir and Nainital.
Why We Love Tillage
- Quality and taste – After tasting their khapli flour, A2 cow ghee, and jaggery powder, we soon made them our pantry staples.
- Bringing back millets and forgotten flours – Tillage actively promotes indigenous produce from trusted farmers, some of which have gradually faded through generations. You can find ambemohar rice from Pune district, nachni flour from Kolhapur, jowar from Mansa in Gujarat, and more on their website.
- Accessibility to seasonal produce – The Mumbai-based weekly subscription box consists of seasonal fruits, pantry staples, and natural sweeteners that are delivered to the subscriber’s doorstep. With this increased convenience, Tillage allows consumers to access local foods with ease. You can also check their Instagram stories for fruits available on a weekly basis.
- Offers useful information – Tillage demystifies how certain traditional ingredients can be cooked, and often shares easy-to-cook recipes on social media.
- Natural sweeteners – They supply naturally-sourced sweeteners as an alternative to processed sugar. After several rounds of quality testing, checking for moisture content, shelf life and more, they now source palm jaggery and coconut sugar from Tamil Nadu, and raw multifloral honey from Uttarakhand.
Note from the Producer
“Tillage was born out of the need to normalise consumption of produce that is locally grown, and based on the principles of earth care, fair share and mindfulness. We are what we consume.
We started out in 2017 as mere explorers of lifestyle beyond corporate jobs. Little did we know we would find solitude, and make new beginnings on a 50-year-old ancestral gaushala. We started off selling naturally-grown jowar millet from our farmers, as a not-for-profit initiative. This gradually led to us introducing locally-sourced and naturally grown produce to cities in 2020, under Tillage.”
— Saloni Shah Anchan and Shival Shah, Founders of Tillage
The Locavore Bite
TL Bite offers a glimpse into how a partner producer runs their operations, and reflects their core principles and values. The idea is to provide insights into their practices and highlight their positive efforts descriptively. We have identified seven key areas of assessment – origin and source of ingredients, composition and integrity of the products, workforce policies, production practices, community-related initiatives, approach towards preserving or celebrating traditional knowledge and the materials used in packaging. While this assessment may not be entirely comprehensive, we hope it helps you make an informed decision about why you might want to support them, and the ways in which to. The information below offers you a snapshot of where Tillage stands on these parameters. We have put this together based on several rounds of conversation with Saloni Shah Anchan and Shiavl Shah, the founders of Tillage. Click on a piece of the pie below to find out more.Products We Recommend
Palm Jaggery
Khapli (emmer) wheat flour
How to Buy
If you would like to learn more about Tillage, or try different types of flours and sweeteners, check out their website. If you’re interested in supporting them in other ways, please contact us at [email protected].
This is a paid partnership with Tillage. At the Locavore, we strive to keep the practices of a producer transparent and honest across all forms of partnerships.
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