Fresh Flowers Couldn’t Travel Far. Chokhone Krichena Built a Business by Making Them Last a Year

In Manipur’s Mao region, flowers were everywhere — but rarely treated as a commercial crop. Chokhone Krichena saw an opportunity to change that. What began with a handful of women growing flowers in their gardens has become Dianthe, a social enterprise working with more than 300 women farmers and selling naturally preserved flowers across India.

Krichena’s journey began during the Covid-19 pandemic when she started sharing flowers online and people began asking to buy them. In 2021, she formally launched Dianthe, whose name translates to “flower of the Gods.” She initially distributed saplings to around 10 women from her village, including relatives and neighbours who were more accustomed to vegetable farming.

The economics quickly changed attitudes. According to Krichena, those early growers earned roughly twice the profit they would have made from vegetables, encouraging more women to participate. Today, most farmers do not need large plots; many grow flowers in portions of their own yards and gardens, earning according to how much they cultivate.

Logistics created the next problem. Mao is far from major airports and railway stations, making fresh-flower shipments difficult. Dianthe responded by shade-drying and naturally preserving flowers, extending their shelf life beyond a year without machinery or chemical preservation. That allowed the company to reach buyers far beyond Manipur.

Dianthe now serves both B2B and B2C customers across 20 states. The company remains profitable, although Krichena says margins are still modest. Regional disruptions have also affected shipments, prompting the business to establish an additional logistics presence in Guwahati.

The impact extends beyond flower sales. Krichena says women in the network are contributing to household expenses, supporting their children’s education and, in some cases, opening bank accounts and beginning to use UPI for the first time. Her next goal is to bring more farmers into the network and expand the model beyond Senapati district.