Origo Commodities: Growing in Agri-business Through Disruption

Abstract

The founders of Origo Commodities Sunoor Kaul and Mayank Dhanuka identified a particular set of problems in the agri-warehousing market in India, and developed strategies to solve those problems. The Origo founders attempted to bring in professional services, higher ethical standards, easy financing models and integrated services (“trade facilitation”) at a scale that was fairly unique in the Indian agricultural sector. These could be considered significant innovations in the context of the industry. The case highlights the challenges faced and addressed by the company and illustrates how some of their expansion plans proved to be sustainable and some less so. How should the founders scale up the agri-warehousing business and grow through diversification with the various options available to them?