Our Story
From the Forests of the World to Your Home
Niyati was founded on a simple belief: that the forests of the world hold extraordinary things — foods, materials, craft traditions and knowledge — and that the communities who live alongside them deserve better market connections.
The Beginning
How Niyati Began
Niyati began with a journey into the forests of Central India — into Bastar, Chhattisgarh and the landscapes of the Central Indian Dry Deciduous Forest. What we found there was remarkable: wild honey gathered from forest hives, Mahua flowers collected at dawn, Dhokra figurines cast using a technique unchanged for three thousand years, and communities whose livelihoods depended on the forest in ways that were both ancient and fragile.
We also found a gap. These products — genuinely exceptional, responsibly sourced, carrying real stories — had almost no presence in international markets. The communities producing them had limited access to buyers who valued what they were making. Niyati was founded to close that gap.
We are a UK-registered company, building a bridge between forest communities in India and customers in the United Kingdom who want to buy things that are beautiful, honest and meaningful.
Purpose
Our Mission
To create stronger, more equitable market connections for the communities who live alongside and depend upon forests — bringing their products, craft and knowledge to customers who value them.
Traceability
Every product we sell carries information about where it came from, who made or gathered it, and how it reached us. We do not make claims we cannot verify.
Equity
We work to ensure that the communities at the beginning of our supply chain receive fair value for what they produce. This is a process, not a destination — we are transparent about where we are.
Responsibility
We source only products gathered or made using methods that do not damage the ecosystems they come from. Forest health and community livelihoods are inseparable.
Honesty
We do not overstate our impact, romanticise poverty, or make claims about communities without their knowledge. We publish impact data only after it has been verified.
Quality
Forest-origin products are exceptional. We work to ensure that what reaches our customers reflects the quality of what the forest and its communities produce.
Compliance
All products are subject to UK food safety, trading standards and import regulations. We manage compliance product by product and do not cut corners.
Supply Chain
Our Supply Chain Philosophy
We believe that transparency about supply chains is not a marketing exercise — it is a responsibility. We are building a business that can tell you, for each product, where it came from, who gathered or made it, and what standards it was produced to.
We work with forest collector groups, women-led producer organisations, artisan cooperatives and small rural enterprises. We do not source through intermediaries who cannot provide us with origin information. Where we cannot verify a claim, we do not make it.
Our supply chain is expanding. We began in Central India and are building relationships with communities and producer organisations across India, with plans to extend to South Asia, Africa, South America and Southeast Asia. Each new origin is added only when we have verified supply chain relationships in place.
The Team
Who We Are
Niyati is a small team with deep connections to India and a commitment to building something that lasts. We are based in the United Kingdom and work closely with partners, producer organisations and community groups in India.
We are at an early stage. We are honest about that. What we are building — verified supply chains, genuine community partnerships, a product range that reflects the real breadth of what forests produce — takes time to do properly. We would rather do it slowly and honestly than quickly and carelessly.