AN entrepreneur has landed a contract with a leading farm produce retailer.

Monalisa Fathima who launched Saffron Tree this year is supplying farm shop Fodder with her range of authentic Indian curries.

She was inspired to launch Saffron Tree after undergoing sight-saving eye surgery and being forced to rely on supermarket-ready meals during her recovery. She realised there was a gap in the retail market for authentic home-cooked Indian food and now produces more than 1,000 main meals of Indian chilled meals a week.

She has invested more than 200k in the business which also includes her own dedicated Indian cookery school, which she plans to launch in January.

Monalisa, 40, of Harrogate, deals exclusively with independent retailers and other farm shops throughout Yorkshire, a strategy which has helped her upscale the business organically as demand has grown.

The Yorkshire Agricultural Society set up Fodder to directly support farm incomes and is the only outlet of its kind in the UK to donate all of its profits to charity. Shop manager Julie Smith said: “The Saffron Tree range has been a huge success with customers and a recent tasting event created a real stir. Everything from the exquisite packaging to the lavish spices and authentic taste makes it hugely appealing. It’s the perfect fit for Fodder customers and a great collaboration between retail and local suppliers working together to deliver quality produce, which is what we are all about.”