Established in 2014 and now with 200+ employees, Paicho Pasal is a private company that collects, sells and processes fresh vegetables. Based in the rural Municipality of Beletaksar, Gulmi, the company has a unique and successful business model where it sources vegetables and other agricultural produce directly from a large pool of smallholder farmers from remote areas regardless of volume and sells to urban markets while processing the unsold produce. The company name “Paicho” means “barter” in Nepali, so the company also promotes a traditional barter system as the farmers can either get cash for their products or opt to buy retail goods from the shops run by Paicho Pasal. The primary goal of the company is to make the best use of the agricultural produce from small- and medium-scale farmers, promote those products in the market (predominantly urban) and contribute to the national economy by providing direct market access to farmers. In addition, the company also provides farmers with necessary advice and updated information on improved farming practices and inputs. Paicho is currently working with over 30,000 farmers and has a diverse line of products ranging from fresh vegetables, fruits, pulses, cash crops, herbs to processed food items.

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Promote, Replicate and Expand Improved Business Model to Attract Further Investments

Running from November 2020 to March 2023, with a total cost of over £600,000 (of which £201,368 was contributed by CASA), the partnership with Paicho was designed to support the company’s business expansion and negate growth constraints by leveraging investment to upgrade collection and processing facilities, improving marketing and sales, supporting product diversification, adopting technology, and obtaining quality certifications so that they can increase their sales and include more smallholder farmers in their supply chain. Through the partnership, Paicho secured investment of £530,714 (through debt financing and new shareholder equity injection) to build 38 collection facilities and three sales outlets; the rest of the capital was used towards product diversification and working capital. Specifically:

• £232,142 was raised through initial debt financing obtained via an agricultural loan with a 5% subsidy and 3% interest, to establish the collection centres and sales outlets, along with factory upgrades and vehicle purchase.
• Paicho secured a second round of debt financing of £191,429 at 13% interest amid liquidity issues to purchase raw materials, machinery, computer hardware and for working capital. 
• Paicho also raised £107,143 in equity from shareholders for expansion into Province 4 and for further working capital.

The company also worked on strengthening its marketing strategy and pursued improving staff capacity and the achievement of ISO, HACCP and GMP certifications to improve product quality. CASA also provided technical assistance to digititalise the entire operations and mainly focused on developing and improving the capacity of 15,000 supplying farmers through training on Good Agriculture Practices, Post Harvest Management, Integrated Pest Management, and Food and Nutrition Security. After the successive support, Paicho was able to expand into the national market through big supermarket chains and started exporting to the US and Japan, incorporating almost 6,000 new smallholders into their supply chain. Paicho is exploring the possibility of going public through CASA’s partnership with TNA, a PEVC firm.

Updated: August 2025