Meghalaya

Meghalaya has started its first bricks-and-mortar Meghalaya Collectives outlet in Shillong. Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Timothy D Shira opened it on November 4, and the Meghalaya State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) runs it.

The shop brings together goods from farmers, craftspeople, self-help groups, cooperatives and rural businesses. It is below Dylan’s Café and trades daily from 10 am to 10 pm.

MSAMB has entered an MoU with Mandya Organic Foods Private Limited, whose retail name is Organic Mandya. Under the arrangement, a selected Meghalaya range is to receive designated shelf space at outlets in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and at stores opened while the agreement is in force.

Those displays are expected to use Meghalaya Collectives identification and describe both makers and their home areas. Meghalaya Collectives already sells in Delhi, online through Amazon, and via other commercial tie-ups.

The launch also included publication of the Meghalaya Collectives Product Handbook – Store Edition 2026–2027. A business-to-business session brought producers together with possible purchasers to discuss supply opportunities.

The store and the Organic Mandya tie-up are intended to give Meghalaya’s rural producers a route into more organised retail channels outside the Northeast. The initiative supports goods under its own name, joint labels and standalone brands, while helping with promotion and distribution.

Shira said state-supported buyer connections had moved more than 2,100 metric tonnes of farm output, with trade of approximately Rs 22 crore. He said producers need support from cultivation through processing and dependable demand.

PRIME Rural’s home-visit incubation programme assists entrepreneurs with formal enrolment, financial records, product design, pack presentation, skills support and selling. MSAMB and PRIME Rural aim to combine this business support with access to organised buyers, helping enterprises seek orders and learn what customers want.

Organic Mandya plans to allocate the Meghalaya range in its Bengaluru and Hyderabad shops, as well as in any outlets it opens during the MoU period. The arrangement could extend the audience for rural enterprises beyond the region.