With a vision to make the health benefits of Wheatgrass available for those in need in a convenient and economical way, Girme’s Wheatgrass (GWG), a family owned business was founded in 1998 by agriculturist turned Naturopath late Chandrakant Girme, ND (Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine).
The positive response received for Wheatgrass therapy in various health issues inspired his son Hemant Girme to dedicate himself to the promotion of Wheatgrass for wellness. Thereafter GWG was registered in 2005 and further developed to a global platform.
Adityan Hemant Girme, his grandson, has now joined the company and heads the exports and e-commerce business development.
What is Wheatgrass?
Wheatgrass means the green vegetable leaves of ‘baby’ wheat plant (Triticum Aestivum) used as a food, drink or dietary supplement. Wheatgrass is popular in Naturopathy / Nature Cure for preventive health care and healing properties. When grown on a large scale it looks like grass, hence it’s called Wheatgrass.
Dr. Charles Schnabel (1895-1974) of USA is considered as the father of Wheatgrass in modern times. He introduced the importance of Wheatgrass in 1930s followed by holistic health practitioner, naturopath and raw food advocate Dr. Ann Wigmore (1909-1994) who popularised the usage and benefits of Wheatgrass to the masses worldwide.
Pune-based, Girme’s Wheatgrass developed Wheatgrass in powder form, which is easy to transport and ready for use wherever and whenever needed. The increasing export enquiries motivated GWG to acquire organic certification for its Wheatgrass Powder in 2006. The process was not overly stressful.
“Since we were doing the Wheatgrass crop production and processing in our own farm, entering the organic sector was not at all difficult. As a result, we could easily implement organic integrity chain from farm to finished product level with minimum challenges,” explains Hemant who is CEO of the company.
The flagship product, Organic Wheatgrass Powder, is made from untreated, pesticide-free wheat seed that GWG purchases from local farmers. It is 100% natural, raw, vegan, gluten-free, GMO-free and Organic certified.
In the company’s ISO:22000 and GMP certified facility, the products are made hygienically and are free of preservatives, artificial colours, radiation, heavy metals and pesticide residue.
The process of purity
GWG’s headquarters are in Pune, Maharashtra, and its unit is in the village of Akluj in the district of Solapur in the Indian state of Maharashtra. About 300 kilometres (km) south-east of Mumbai, in a clean, agricultural region with a low annual rainfall of less than 52 cm.
The wheatgrass vegetable develops swiftly in the tropical environment of India, ingests 92 out of 110 nutrients from the soil, and reaches the pinnacle of its nutritious value in just 7 days. For washing and cultivating, alkaline ground spring well water is used.
“On our farm we grow the Wheatgrass on the ground for 7 days all year round under shade net houses using organic farming methods. We then harvest the ripe Wheatgrass vegetable on 8th day by hand, chopping carefully one inch above the ground. Then it is sorted, washed and dehydrated indoors using natural solar energy in UV stabilised poly film house (without direct sunlight / mechanical dryer) at temperature less than 45 degree Celsius and finally ground into fine Powder using a low intensity pulveriser machine. There is no further processing or adding of any other ingredient in the Powder,” explains Hemant.
New sowing, harvesting and processing is done daily all year round. A single crop is picked from each bed of wheat seeding. The topsoil layer (about 4 inch) from harvested beds is manually sliced and stacked aside for composting. After two months, the recycled fertile organic soil is reused for the purpose of next seeding. This indigenous process refined by years of perfection ensures that the beneficial nutrients are maximum retained in the Girme’s Wheatgrass Powder.
More in-store
GWG exports Wheatgrass Powder to more than 30 countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritius, Seychelles, The Netherlands, Spain, Norway, France, Dubai (UAE), Bahrain, Kuwait, UK, USA, Curacao, Guadeloupe, etc.
Talking about the future, Hemant shares that GWG has great plans to establish itself as the most authentic and largest manufacturer of organic Wheatgrass Powder worldwide.
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