Reducing food losses at the grass root level and improving its quality and shelf life: BMH Transmotion Inc.

The Silicon Review

“We, at BMH, want to create social and economic impact by highlighting the importance of the food we grow and eat.”

BMH Transmotion Inc. is engaged in the manufacturing of bulk material handling and mineral processing machinery. It provides innovative integrated solutions and develops new technology in the areas that most impact the future of the industries. The company serves clients in Canada and India.

Ravindra Dekate founded BMH Transmotion in 2016.

The Silicon Review reached out to Mr. Dekate, and here’s what he had to say.

Interview Highlights

Q. Why was BMH Transmotion Inc. born? What pain points did you set out to solve?

We started wanting to develop new technology wherever required. As we researched grain wastage, the huge losses made us empathize with the situation and allowed us to invent. We innovated Foldable Bulk Grain Handling Technologies intending to reduce massive post-harvest grain losses, at the grass root level. Over time, as we researched more into the issues in agriculture and horticulture post-harvest losses, we realised, there is a huge potential for us to develop storages of different kinds, which aim to reduce the huge scale of losses that occur. We have now storage models for grains, pulses, fruits, vegetables, and flowers.

We, at BMH, want to create social and economic impact by highlighting the importance of the food we grow and eat. With the population, the demand for food is also increasing. We believe that a grain saved, is a grain produced. We want to reduce post-harvest losses at the farm level, by providing our systems to farmers. As mentioned earlier, we not only want to work in the grain field, but also in the field of pulses, vegetables, flowers, etc. Covering all fields will help in saving farmers’ hard work at all levels. Having storage nearby will allow farmers to hold their harvest and sell when it’s required, without wastage. Also, as a society, we can achieve the aim of serving people in need, who don’t get food on regular basis and are malnourished.

Q. Can you introduce us to your innovative services? What are their key features?

BMH’s Bulk Grain Handling Technologies stores grain of all types in a portable foldable storage system, with less grain losses. It can be folded and moved to wherever required. For example, at or near farms, where there are no storage and most losses occur. We found in our research that low temperature, low moisture, and low humidity results in less grain spoilage and also double grain shelf life. To achieve this, our storage is kept far away from water places. It is hermetic and airtight at all times, which ensures insects cannot enter, and insects already present will die due to less oxygen. In such cases, the usage of insecticides is also not required. Storage has an aeration system, which regulates temperature and moisture levels required for good quality grain, which can be monitored. Storage is outlined with fabric, which is specially developed, keeping in mind the factors required for good quality grain storage. This fabric is food-safe, UV, temperature, and crack resistant, fire and rodent retardant, and reflects 60% of solar energy. When implemented, the main advantage to farmers will be that having a storage system nearby will allow them to hold grain safely.

Q. How does BMH create and sustain a culture of innovation?

While we are proud of our innovation, we believe we still have a long way to go. In the

future, we want to develop more storage systems for different categories in agriculture and horticulture. We have started with developing certain kinds of flowers and fruits and are learning our way into the field. Other than developing new kinds of storage, we also have to work our way into expanding our reach and implementing our storage more and more by the day. By mid of 2023, we hope to gain more clients and projects in our hands, to expand our reach - which in return allows us to learn by experience and improve ourselves.

Q. Tell us about the BMH team. What value do they bring to the company?

Other than me, our core team members include Sumeet (he), Mayushri (she) and Anshula (she). Sumeet heads the operations in India. He has a background in engineering and business finance. Mayushri has a background in finance and works along with Sumeet. Anshula handles everything to do with digital and branding.

We, at BMH, believe in allowing young talent to build on their skills and also gain from their fresh perspective. Therefore, we have many young trainees recruited who work with us, at all levels of product research, development, and manufacturing. Our experienced members guide and train the young and new recruits to learn our technology and the foundation of our company. In new talent, we look for hunger to learn and also have the ability to come up with new ideas. They should be able not only to follow instructions but also to lead when required. We are constantly looking for opportunities to expand our range of systems. If the new talent can help us with research and develop these new areas, it helps us grow as a company.

Q. Will BMH be expanding, bringing on any new services that we should be aware of?

BMH’s Foldable Transportation Bag is part of our technology developed for bulk grain storage to stop grain and post-harvest losses. The foldable transportation bag is a smaller version of the main portable grain storage system. During Covid-19, moving food staples from one place to another has been one of the frictions. Our transportation bag removes that friction, by one, acting as a storage system, and two, a portable system, which can be directly moved from one place to another. In the warehouse, the food staple can be loaded and safely stored in bags. When ready, the items can be loaded directly on a truck trailer or in a railway wagon for transportation. Due to the bag’s foldable feature, the empty bag can be transported back to the warehouse faster, after unloading its contents and be made ready for another cycle of transportation. We believe that during a disaster-like situation or a pandemic when transporting essentials to people becomes a top priority, our storage, and transportation system can help in making the process very faster and smoother. It will help in making sure that the help reaches people faster and on time.

Q. What is the inspiration behind your business?

We, at BMH, believe in the thought — a grain saved is a grain produced. As the population is increasing, the demand for food is also increasing.According to studies, population needs are unmet despite the high rate of food production. If the system remains unchanged, the future will present challenging circumstances. To tackle this, we want to reduce food losses at the grass root level and improve its quality and shelf life.

Q. What is your magic sauce?

Our magic lies in the fact that there is no service like ours. We have indirect competition with traditional systems, silos & godowns as they are traditionally used for storage. We have the advantage of being portable, as it can be moved to on-spot locations, whereas traditional storage can’t.

Q. What are your plans for the upcoming year?

As mentioned earlier that not just grain losses, we want to work on reducing all kinds of losses in the agriculture and horticulture field. Our plan for the coming years is to research other areas of loss and start many pilot projects. One of the projects we are working on currently is onion storage. We also have mobile cool storage in the pipeline for flowers, fruits, and vegetables. We hope to make significant progress in these and develop the systems.