We Are Aadhimalai
At its core, we don’t see ourselves as a company. We are a collective dream, born in the forest, shaped by community hands, and carried forward with dignity. Every jar of honey, every bag of forest coffee, and every handcrafted balm tells a story.
Vision
Securing sustainable livelihood and a sound environment for the tribal communities of NBR.
Mission
Creating opportunities for the tribal communities to market their farm and forest harvest through processing, value adding, human resource development and with fair trade principles.
Objectives
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To process, produce, market, and trade a wide range of agricultural and forest-based products, including grains, spices, fruits, vegetables, honey, dairy, organic foods, and non-timber forest produce.
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To support the development of indigenous communities, especially in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve, through sustainable processing, preservation, and value addition of local products with utmost traceability and transparency.
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To cultivate and manage farmlands and plantations, and to make their produce market-ready through ethical and eco-friendly practices.
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To promote eco-conscious farming by utilising agricultural by-products for natural fertilizers and environmentally sustainable solutions.
History
1993
Keystone Foundation was set up.
1998
Keystone started procurement of agricultural produce like coffee, millets and pepper from tribal farmers.
2014
Shareholder count increased to 1,609.
2021
Aadhimalai won the UNDP Equator Prize for empowering Indigenous communities through sustainable, forest-based livelihoods.
2024
HIVE, a retail store at Kallar, Mettupalayam, inaugurated by the Additional Collector of Coimbatore on September 12.
1996
Keystone began working with honey hunters, procuring honey and beeswax at fair value.
2013
Aadhimalai registered as a producer company with 14 shareholders from the community.
2019
Inception of Thumbithakadu Society at Hasanur.
2023
1,809 shareholders reached. Cosmetics license obtained, and Melseemai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company Ltd founded.
Built around the community, not a boardroom
Aadhimalai's AGM isn't a single event at head office that is held region by region across Pillur, Pudukad, Banagudi, and Bangalapadigai every September, since the very first one. Shareholders are hand-delivered personal invitation letters rather than posted notices (post proved unreliable in remote terrain), and vans and jeeps ferry members from their villages and back. When COVID made in-person gatherings impossible, the Board reviewed and disclosed financials instead, and profits were still distributed fairly despite a change in format, the principle stood strong. Aadhimalai is now working toward a single, unified AGM for all shareholders.
A cultural gathering, not just a business one
The first AGM drew over 1,500 tribal members, with songs, dance, and a meal cooked by villagers themselves which stands a deliberate gesture of equality from day one. That spirit has held: everyone eats together regardless of community or region, shareholders ask sharp questions freely, and non-shareholders often attend, drawn in by the transparency, and later join as shareholders themselves. Top produce contributors are publicly recognized each year, and if someone can't attend, their incentive is delivered to their home.
What actually gets decided
The AGM covers the year's achievements, production and financial reports, governance (electing or removing directors), partnerships with bodies like the Forest Department, and forest access permissions managed through the Vana Kuzhu self-help group. It's also where expansion where new regions and new shareholders get discussed and decide collectively.
Shareholders
Gender-wise Representation
Region-wise Representation
Gender and Region-wise Representation
Processing Centres
Built by many, Owned by all
The Four Pillars
Aadhimalai's four production units — Bangalapadigai, Pillur, Pudukad, and Banagudi — are its foundational pillars. Incubated by Keystone Foundation and registered in 2013, the company is entirely owned by tribal shareholders, combining sustainable harvesting, traditional ecological knowledge, and fair trade into a community-driven, environmentally conscious model.
More Than Production
Each unit works as a community hub, not just a production centre — supporting education, healthcare, legal awareness, and environmental stewardship alongside livelihoods. Over 3,500 tribal families across 100+ villages have benefited, earning 20–30% higher returns than conventional markets through value-added forest and farm produce. Every woman employed in these units is also a shareholder — a direct stake in the enterprise she helps build.
From the Production Floor to the Board
Importantly, every woman employed in these production units is also a shareholder in Aadhimalai, giving them a direct stake and voice in the enterprise they help build. These opportunities have inspired many tribal women to grow beyond the production floor—as seen in the journey of Mallika, who started as a unit employee and rose to become both a panchayat leader and a member of Aadhimalai’s Board of Directors. Her story is a living example of how dignified employment can nurture leadership and unlock the vast potential within tribal communities.
Through these interwoven threads of livelihood, empowerment, and ecological justice, Aadhimalai continues to grow—not just as a company, but as a movement of people reclaiming agency over their forests, their economy, and their future.
Board of Directors
With 1,809 tribal shareholders spread across the Nilgiris' remote terrain, a single meeting was never realistic. So Aadhimalai built its Board of Directors from the grassroots up: village by village, region by region, communities were simply asked, "Who among you wants to lead?" Members voted for those they trusted, people who had farmed the land and stood by them through hard seasons.
Today, the elected board meets every three months to decide:
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Crop cycles and forest collection patterns
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Fair procurement rates
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Local needs and pending tasks
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How to scale without losing sustainability
Director
Ponnan Lingan
From Coonoor's misty slopes, Lingan brings youthful energy to the board. In his 30s, he was the youngest director, yet a man of ancient traditions. A honey hunter by heritage, he still climbs cliffs and trees for wild honey, while cultivating coffee and pepper. He also collects forest produce like shikakai, soap nuts, kadukkai, and dhupa resin. As a panchayat member too, he carries the voice of the forest and community into every boardroom conversation.
Director
Suresh Mallika
Mallika's journey shows how opportunity can spark transformation. She began as an employee in one of Aadhimalai's production units, contributing to value addition. Over time, her natural leadership became evident. She was later elected panchayat leader of Nellithorai, where she helps local families, especially women, access loans and government schemes. In 2024, she joined Aadhimalai's Board, completing her rise from the production floor to decision-making spaces, a role model showing other tribal women their leadership matters.
Director
Mani Selvi
The newest member, elected in 2025, Selvi comes from Kodiyur village in Pillur region. A housewife and farmer, she runs a banana farm, and most prominently, a cattle homestead that supplies milk to nearby communities.
Her friendly and fearless nature made her a natural choice. Known for asking bold questions and speaking up for her people, Selvi ensures that the voices of ordinary women farmers are represented at the table.
Shareholder, Honey Gatherer and Director of Aadhimalai
Ponnan Chandran
A founding shareholder of Aadhimalai, Ponnan Chandran was elected director in 2025, recognition of the trust producers place in him. From the Kurumba community, he has gathered honey for years, carrying deep knowledge of the forest, bees, and seasons. Young people turn to him to learn how honey is gathered and the forest read, a role model for how tradition and leadership can coexist. He champions sustainable harvesting and keeping Kurumba culture alive, seeing both as the same responsibility. As director, he brings the voice of an indigenous honey gatherer to Aadhimalai's decisions.
Youngest Member of the Aadhimalai Board
Chitra
From the Aracode region and Irula community, Chitra was elected to the board in 2025, its youngest member, a sign of trust in a new generation of leaders. She speaks on climate change, bringing the lived understanding indigenous communities carry from being closest to shifts in weather and land. Known for surprise visits to the Bangalapadi centre, she wants to see operations firsthand and meet the people working there on an ordinary day, a real strength for a producer-owned organisation. Her journey to the board reflects Aadhimalai's values: young people from the community with a seat at the table.
Shareholder and Community Leader from Sigur
Lalitha
From the Sigur region and Irula community, Lalitha has been a shareholder since Aadhimalai's inception. She works extensively on Forest Rights, helping communities understand and secure recognition of their rights over forests they've lived in and cared for across generations, alongside other social work in the region. Well known and trusted, she's often the first person people turn to with a problem, trust built over years of showing up and listening. Her long association with Aadhimalai reflects what it's built on: producers who are owners, carrying their people's voice into every space.
“We are not just board members. We are farmers, gatherers, and caretakers. This land raised us, and now we raise each other.”
Every board member of Aadhimalai is not just a director on paper, but a steward of their region, a farmer of their land, and a protector of their people. With representation from different corners of the Nilgiris - from Arakode to Coonoor, Pillur, Hasanur to Nellithorai - they bring diversity, democracy, and direction to our collective dream.
– Aadhimalai Board Member
Our Advisors
Founder Director, Keystone Foundation
Snehalata
Sneh or Sneha Madam works with Livelihoods, Indigenous Peoples Programme and the Hunter-Gatherer Initiative. She supports NGO networks in India around forests and indigenous people. She has also initiated the People and Nature Fund which will be coordinated by Keystone. She advises Aadhimalai on various capacities.
Deputy Director of Keystone
Robert Leo
Leo, or "Leo Sir" as the team calls him, joined Keystone during the 1993-94 beekeepers and honey hunters survey and has been part of the work ever since. A native of Kodaikanal, he holds a Bachelor's in Rural Developmental Science and a Master's in Arts, both from Madurai Kamaraj University, and began his career in plantation farming. Starting with beekeeping initiatives among indigenous communities, he moved into traditional farming practices, tackling forest honey quality, sustainability, value addition of honey and beeswax, and community enterprise initiatives across Keystone's project areas.
Senior Advisor, Aadhimalai
Mallikarjuna Moorthy
Moorthy Sir as he is fondly called by everyone, has led from the front right from the time the processing centres were set up by Keystone. He led the value addition projects of Keystone and later became the CEO of Aadhimalai. Now, Moorthy Sir is a Senior Advisor to Aadhimalai, and is helping Aadhimalai come up with new products and maintain producer relationships.
He hails from Sirumugai in Mettupalayam and comes from a weaving family. He has an eye for experimentation and as a result has come up with several new products for Aadhimalai.
Our Team
Enterprise Hub
The Enterprise Hub is a joint initiative by Keystone Foundation and Aadhimalai, funded by the Chapple Family Foundation, supporting women-led green micro-enterprises across the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. It currently backs ten initiatives, Thalir, Melseemai Pazhangudiyinar Producer Company, Bake n Take, Bee Corner, the Pillur Seed Bank, Indigenous Plants Nursery, Kaivinai, VDVK Programme (Masinagudi & Nelakkottai) and Urali Pazhangudiniyar Producer Company Ltd, all women-led except Bee Corner and Kaadukaappan.
Community-rooted, sustainable enterprise
Each enterprise embeds sustainable harvesting, responsible consumption, biodiversity conservation, and waste management into its model, building economic resilience for indigenous groups while aligning with UN SDGs on inequality and marginalised communities' wellbeing.
Pilot-driven, skills-first approach
Phase one ran three pilots: indigenous plant nurseries, a seed bank for crop sovereignty, and a waste upcycling initiative for sanitation workers, each drawing on Keystone's networks of self-help groups, barefoot ecologists, and community educators. Keystone envisions this growing into a Women's Resource Centre within Kotagiri's People-Nature Center.
Measurable early impact
Since support began in October 2024, all enterprises have reported positive income gains within their first year. The Hub provides ongoing capacity-building in market response, quality control, inventory management, and production consistency, building on initial site assessments and raw-material status reports.
Annual Reports
Welcome to our Annual Report, where we reflect on the milestones and progress we’ve achieved as a community of farmers. This report highlights the collective efforts, successes, and growth of our Producers’ Company over the past year. It showcases our commitment to enhancing livelihoods, improving market access, and empowering farmers through collaboration and innovation. We are proud to share the strides we’ve made in sustainability, income generation, and the overall well-being of our members.
