- Engage women from the local community through purposeful activities to make them financially independent.
- Provide clean and fresh spices to quality conscious buyers
- Build a community of women who are empowered through purposeful work, achieving financial independence
Urmi was founded in 1953 with an aim to empower women from rural areas around Atul (Gujarat, India). In the initial days, sewing and knitting training sessions, music competitions and food festivals were organised for Urmi members. In the early 1960s, spice production was introduced as one of the main undertakings of the organisation in an endeavour to provide fresh, adulteration free and traditionally processed spices to the community at large. Whole chillies, turmeric, coriander, and cumin seeds were sun dried, hand pounded and then sold to residents of Atul and nearby locations.
With the growing demand for these spices, iron pounding machines were brought to scale up production. Iron pounding ensures that volatile oils and nutrients, which are often lost during large scale pulverisation for commercial production, are retained. Urmi spices are thus distinct in aroma, flavour and texture from most other spices that are prepared with conventional processing methods.
In addition to spices, Urmi also sources and offers some indigenously produced foods.
Our Journey
1953
Balwantrai Mazumdar, one of the founding fathers of Atul Ltd sets up Urmi to empower women
Urmi members participate in flood relief, music competitions, stitching and knitting training sessions
1953-57
1964
The constitution of Urmi is formally adopted
Hand pounded spices are introduced
1968
1970
Pounding machines are procured to meet the growing demand for fresh and adulteration-free spices
Spice blends based on home made recipes are introduced
1990
2018
urmi dukān, the first retail store of Urmi, is set up at Atul
Empowering women
Urmi, which translates to ‘a wave of joy’, isn’t just about creating flavourful spices. Ever since its inception, the philosophy of the organisation has been to empower women from the local community. Today, our all women team is responsible for the complete spice making process – from cleaning whole spices to sun drying, pounding, blending and packaging. Each member of our team goes home with a sense of pride and accomplishment, in addition to having a steady income source. To add an authentic flavour to each of our spice blends, recipes are curated by members of the Urmi family – hailing from respective states of the country.
Our Certifications
Urmi is committed to ethical practices and an utmost focus on quality. These certifications further re-affirm that Urmi products are fresh, pure and adherent to stringent hygiene standards. By choosing Urmi, you can be confident that you are supporting a noble cause while also adding a consciously prepared product to your kitchen.
