On August 12, 2016, Madhu and I had the pleasure of meeting with Ashish Lakhani, the President and Founder of Reliable Products and PureFarms Organics, along with his father, Vipin Makhani.

Vipin and Ashish Lakhani at Reliable Products and PureFarms Organics processing facilities in Woodinville, WA

Ashish has a great story and interesting background that sets him apart from his competitors.

Ashish was born and raised in Rajkot, India.  He grew up in the family farming and processing business. For three generations, the Lakhani family has been a part of organic farming and trade, converting and funding a transition from conventional farming methods to organic. Mr. Vipin Lakhani, along with Ashish’s older brother, Darshan Lakhani, maintain their family farm back in India, Pure Farms India, where they raise sesame and other seed crops.

Ashish came to the United States in 1997 and has since become a US citizen. In 2003, with his father’s and brother’s knowledge and expertise for support, Ashish founded Reliable Products, Inc. and PureFarms Organic as a quality wholesale distributor of Non-GMO and certified organic raw food ingredients.

Ahshish Lakhani tending to the sesame crop on the family farm outside of Rajkot, India

Through Reliable Products and PureFarms Organic, Ashish provides a vast array of seeds, seed blends, gluten-free ingredients (including gluten-free flour), toasted seeds, nuts, puffed/popped grains, grain flakes, and coconut. Ashish deals in sesame, sunflower, chia, pumpkin kernels, blue poppy, caraway, teff, hemp, kaniwa, buckwheat, flax, amaranth, quinoa, millet, sorghum, as well as a variety of nuts and grains.

We were given a tour of his impeccable facilities in Woodinville, WA. Ashish has a capable, small workforce. The unprocessed seed, grain, and nuts arrive at his facility by pallet in large bags. Employees then clean and process the product making it ready for distribution. Reliable Products offers a number of seed blends, which are mixed on-site. If you’ve had a sesame seed hamburger bun, multi-seed bagel or multi-seed bread, you may have eaten seeds grown on Ashish’s family farm in India and processed at his facility in Woodinville. They mix seeds in the perfect combination so that his customers need only open the bag and sprinkle the seeds on their product, whether a bun, loaf of bread, or bagel.

It’s been a privilege to help Ashish in various aspects of his entrepreneurial business. We provide legal services that include employment agreements, non-compete and non-disclosure agreements, help with branding and trademarks, and of course business formation or help changing your business structure as you grow. As a farm and food lawyer, visiting with Ashish reminded me about the Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) as well as a number of regulatory issues, including FDA compliance.

All in all, it was a great day out in Woodinville visiting with Ashish and his dad. Thanks, Ashish!

Vipin Lakhani, Ashish Lakhani, Vade Donaldson, Madhu Singh