From sales to microgreens: Perm woman supplies restaurants

In the private sector of the Yuzhny microdistrict among cottages stands a mirrored «shopping center» – so the owner jokes in response to surprised neighbors« questions. In fact, it»s a microgreen farm that has likely appeared in dishes from Perm restaurants or deliveries. The owner of the green business says her company is the largest supplier in our city. Production began at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, survived the crisis, and continues to grow. It all started several years ago, at age 31, when Anna Plotnikova decided to take a risk and change her life.

Anna opened her plant factory Sattva Grow six years ago. Today the company grows over 40 types of edible plants, mainly using hydroponics (where plant roots are in a special solution) and aeroponics (roots hang in the air and are nourished through irrigation). The greens are purchased by over 80 wholesale clients and simply Perm supporters of a healthy lifestyle. In addition to the familiar spinach, curly pea, arugula, cilantro, and basil, the farm«s assortment includes dozens of crops – even edible flowers and exotics. For example, there»s electric flower, lemon verbena, oyster leaves, crystal grass, shiso leaves, Peruvian mint, and other exclusives. The owner personally travels to Moscow for them and brings back sprouts in her carry-on luggage.

Anna completed nine grades and entered college for tourism management, because it was prestigious. She never worked in that profession, but the knowledge from the vocational school came in handy. After studies, the future entrepreneur worked in another field, then became a mother. At age 23, after maternity leave, she got a job as a manager at a company selling fertilizers and equipment for hydroponic and aeroponic cultivation – later, this helped Anna greatly. She rose to head of sales, and after several years, at 29, transferred to remote work.

«Who Supported? Willpower»: The Start During Coronavirus Times

«My daughter started first grade, I understood she needed attention. I just couldn»t cope anymore and chose my child. When she grew up a bit and I had rested, I thought: «Oh, I need to do something.» I understood I had 100 years in the growing field and knew it well, I couldn«t do anything else,» Anna recalls in a conversation with 59.RU. «I remember that day – January 2020, I had some thousands of rubles on my credit card. I just withdrew the money and bought a rack – on it we launched the first microgreen business. I already had experience – I grew for myself while working remotely.»

At first, Anna had partners, and they had a premises where they were allowed to set up. When the first harvest grew and it was time to sell, coronavirus reached Perm. Anna recalls that time as the «first scary crisis.» The girl decided to be frank on Instagram* and asked for help – just to buy her greens. It worked – during coronavirus, everything that grew sold.

The first months she had to work without days off – Anna was both deliverer, agronomist, and accountant.

«Who supported? Willpower. The desire to grow and develop. My child. But that»s more about motivation,« Anna explains. »Our clients supported us by posting reviews. My brother supported financially very well at the launch – that«s a very important part. I can always call my parents, ask them to fix a socket.»

In the process, Anna and her partners bought new racks with a microgreen watering system, hired employees, but soon decided to part ways – it was difficult to build the business together due to different views. Since November 2020, Anna Plotnikova has been the sole owner of Sattva Grow.

In summer 2023, Anna renovated the basement floor of a house in Yuzhny and decided to move the plant racks here. Here it became possible to expand again – today production has 25 ceiling-high racks.

This house seemed to us like a shopping center – most of the facade is taken up by mirrored windows. And that association isn«t just ours.

«When locals ask what this is, we joke it»s a shopping center. But it«s just a house, in whose basement we organized production. Because it stands separately and we don»t bother anyone. We have ventilation, heating systems, we can regulate everything. Upstairs there«s nothing yet – it»s a matter of time and investment.«

«You Understand You Need to Raise Prices, But You Can»t«

To maintain production, Anna spends about half a million rubles monthly (approximately $5,600 at current rates). She says it«s sometimes difficult because prices for some products have remained since opening, and expenses only grow. She considers raising prices a risky step, because now many are saving, and competitors sell very cheaply. Anna even met with other businesspeople, suggested ways for everyone to earn well, but not all agreed.

«You understand you need to raise them, but you can»t, because you«ll fall out of the market,» the girl laments. «Yes, you increase turnover, but net profit is the same as when you earned half the turnover, just because expenses increased, and you can»t raise prices. We started automating production heavily to reduce the number of employees. I want people to earn too by coming here.«

From Clean Workshop to Garden Beds

When Anna already had the business, she went to study agronomy. She realized that, despite sufficient practice, brushing up on theory wouldn«t hurt.

«There was a need to tick the box with higher education – it was unfinished due to maternity leave. Plus, university is a way to connect with people engaged in scientific activity. After the first year in business, people studying agronomy appeared in my social circle – and I really wanted to,» the entrepreneur admits.

During summer practice, students were introduced to plants, and at first Anna didn«t like that all work was in mud under scorching sun among midges. In those moments, she wanted to return to her production under air conditioning. But Anna needed this experience, as restaurants have demand for crops that can only be grown in soil, not on racks. In the end, the girl bought a plot of land to build a house, and on the territory she made garden beds.

Now Anna herself is engaged in teaching – she gives lectures in agro-classes at Perm schools. Some of them bought plant racks from her – which the businesswoman now also produces herself. These are open cabinets with their own watering and lighting systems, but some schools buy the product without watering installations – it«s cheaper, and children are interested in caring for plants.

«It»s very inspiring when you share knowledge you enjoy. And the kids are like: «Wow, cool, I like this too.» In the eco-school, they even made a garden of medicinal herbs – there«s an interested teacher there,» Anna rejoices.

«Yesterday This Greenery Grew With Us, Today You See It in Restaurants»

Initially, Anna was the initiator in cooperation with Perm food service – she wrote to chefs herself with proposals. The first partner was «Dom Demidovykh» on Lenina. Now Anna has over 80 clients – both food deliveries, mainly rolls, and restaurants, and small cafes. For example, you can try greens from Sattva Grow in restaurants «Tainaya V.», Rob Roy, «Osobnyak», Meduza, «Partizan», bar The Butcher«s daughter, Curtiss, delivery »Oh My Crab!« and other venues.

«It»s just wow – the greenery was still growing with us yesterday, and today you see it in restaurants. You see your contribution – what you sold, packed a box, the courier took away. And food service simply spreads its product to hundreds of thousands of people,« says the Perm resident.

Some chefs come for a tour to try plants before buying. Everyone, including us, Anna treats to electric flower. It«s hard to convey the sensation, but we»ll try. It feels like you drank a battery – tingling in the mouth, goosebumps and slight numbness, a bit of sweating and increased salivation. Such effect can only be achieved by eating the whole flower. For example, a crumbled bud in salads enhances flavor, while in a cocktail it gives only a light tingling effect.

Currently in Perm restaurants, according to Anna«s observation, chervil, sorrel, radish, arugula, spinach, and pea are popular.

«For many years, pea was the most popular, now even in any canteen you go, it»s there. And since we work with higher cuisine, we waited for years that maybe pea would stop being the main crop,« Anna tells. »This year for the first time we came to other crops topping the list. We went further and grow crops competitors don«t have. For restaurants, it»s important that people return, so stability is needed, and we try to support by giving something new and unusual.«

The farm has fewer clients in the form of Perm healthy lifestyle supporters, but even small orders are still delivered to them. For such clients, there«s a subscription system – every week a certain amount of chosen plants will be delivered.

«We have no minimum wholesale, but there»s free delivery. And if they buy for an amount from 1,000 rubles (approximately $11), we deliver. It can be different quantities: if the most expensive crops, then for a thousand – that«s five or six containers,» explains the agronomist.

Separately from Anna, you can order a natural salad sauce made from lemon juice, soy sauce, and sunflower oil. Anna once made it for herself at home, as they say, from what was available. It turned out so tasty that specialists calculated the recipe for it and packaged it as a separate product.

In the future, the entrepreneur wants to build a separate house where not only the basement but also the rest of the space will be equipped as a farm.

*Instagram is part of Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia.

We have other inspiring stories about people in love with their work – for example, about a fitter who left the factory and now paints cat portraits. On this, he earns several times more.