Bengaluru Start-Up's Images Peddled As Supermarket Run By Farmers

A set of four images of an agri-tech start-up in Bengaluru, called Humus is being shared on social media with false claims that farmers have opened their own supermarket where buyers can procure the produce from them directly.

These images are viral in the backdrop of the ongoing farmers' agitation against contentious farm bills, which the farmers believe will cap their income and benefit big agri and retail players of the market.

Each of the images show carts of vegetables and fruits with people queuing up to buy the produce. One image shows a board with Humus written on it.

The caption of the viral post reads, ''Farmers in Bangalore open a supermarket themselves! Let it be like this if change happens. Want this in every way.'' (Original caption in Bangla: ''ব্যাঙ্গালুরুতে কৃষকরা নিজেরাই সুপার মার্কেট খুলে ফেললেন! পরিবর্তন হলে এমনটা হোক। দিকে দিকে এমনটা চাই।'') Few such posts contain a link of an article titled "Buy Fruits And Veggies Straight From The Farms At 20% Lower Cost From This Vegetable Supermarket".

Archive of the post can be seen here.

The post is also viral in Hindi with the caption, ''The farmers of Bengaluru have prepared their own super market. We also have to learn something from these farmers.The farmers of Punjab have to fight with the government even to sell them in the markets.Why so???'' (Original text in Hindi: ''बेंगलुरु के किसानों ने अपना खुद का सुपर मार्केट तैयार कर लिया है इन किसानों से हमें भी कुछ सीखना होगा पंजाब के किसान को मंडियों में बेचने के लिए भी सरकार से लड़ना पड़ रहा है ऐसा क्यूं???'')

Archive of the post can be seen here.

Also read: Old Images Viral As Vandalism By Congress During Bharat Bandh

Fact Check

BOOM ran a reverse image search on each of the images and found an article published in the website, Whats Hot on December 11, which consisted of a few of the same viral images. The article is titled as "Buy Fruits And Veggies Straight From The Farms At 20% Lower Cost From This Vegetable Supermarket" and stated that the images are from a Bengaluru-based venture, Humus, a fair price vegetable supermarket that sources vegetables and fruits freshly produced by farmers at 20% lower cost.

We also found another blog named Indian Web2 who mentioned about the brand Humus which was formed in 2019 by Manjunatha TN and Shilpa Gopalaiah. The blog also featured the same viral images of the farmers' market.

The about section of the official website of the Bangalore based agri-tech company, Humus states that the company's aim is to eliminate the problems of middlemen faced in Indian agricultural supply chain. Their fair price vegetable and fruits supermarket provides fresh produce to customers at lower prices.

Below are the images in Humus' website.

BOOM reached out to Manjunatha TN, founder, who rubbished claims of the images being linked to the ongoing farmers' protest. He confirmed. "It is not a market opened by farmers in Bengaluru but a start-up venture that was founded by me and my wife in 2019. Our aim is to provide fresh produce easily without any hassle of middlemen from farmers to customers using technology."

Manjunatha further told BOOM that they purchase fruits and vegetables directly from the farmers at a fair market price without the involvement of middlemen. The company has collection centres in rural areas of Bengaluru from where the produce is brought and sold to customers at the store in JP Nagar, Bengaluru. At present, they only have one store.

Also read: Photo Of Sudha Murty At Bengaluru Mutt Shared With Misleading Claim