Siddhartha Shantagiri
As Agriculture Lead at Preferred by Nature, Siddhartha oversees and coordinates the delivery of agriculture services in India and South Asia, ensuring quality, consistency, client satisfaction and alignment with the organisation's strategic objectives. His role also includes marketing and sales of Preferred by Nature services in India and South Asia. The role is responsible for coordinating operational delivery, managing service portfolios, and supporting the development and implementation of regional agriculture service strategies.
At Preferred by Nature, he works as an auditor, quality reviewer and task manager for agriculture certification and verification schemes. He also leads regional business development, client engagement and market development initiatives for agriculture certification services.
He brings three decades of experience in the agriculture sector, including managing coffee plantations and processing units. In the Gherkin industry, he implemented sustainable agriculture programmes, covering Fairtrade, Organic and GlobalGAP standards. He also worked as a Lead Auditor for certification bodies. His auditing experience includes Rainforest Alliance & UTZ standards, as well as Organic regulations (NPOP, EU, NOP) across South Asia.
"The opportunity to work on sustainability certification projects on a global scale, as Preferred by Nature operates in various countries and across different crops, motivated me to join Preferred by Nature. "
- Social, farm and supply chain auditing
- Implementation of Sustainable agriculture standards – Organic, Cotton Connect, Fairtrade, GlobalG.A.P., Rainforest Alliance
- Establishment of Farmer Producer Organisations
- Coffee Plantation and Wet/Dry mill management
- Contract farming of vegetable crops
- Languages known: English, Hindi and Kannada
