The Pahadan’s Farm From 0 to Himalayan Heights on Instagram
Himachal Pradesh, India · D2C Food & Wellness · Instagram: @thepahadansfarm · 2024–2025
The Challenge
The Pahadan Farm was a remarkable product hand-churned A2 bilona ghee that was produced with the help of more than 6 000 rural women farmers in Himachal Pradesh but nearly nonexistent online presence. They had limited presence on Instagram, postings were very slow and the super human story behind the brand was not being shared. As a market was inundated with mass-produced ghee brands with aggressive paid advertising, it needed an entirely new playbook to emerge as a high-quality, heritage-driven D2C brand.
Invisible on Instagram
Less than 800 followers, infrequent posting, no Reels strategy, and virtually no interest of the actual buyers or wellness audiences.
Storytelling Gap
The strongest tool that the brand had its women-story of how it begs and started in Himachali villages was buried and never turned into a thumb-stopping social content.
Zero Lead Pipeline
There was no DM funnel/CTA system. There was no obvious way of moving Instagram content to a purchase or inquiry that was of interest to the users
Our Approach
We began with the articulation of an Instagram brand identity of The Pahadan Farm: warm, Pahadi-centric and incredibly human. The content calendar was based on three pillars Heritage (the bilona process, the villages of Himachal, the women farmers), Product Truth (A2 milk, zero preservatives, small-batch purity), and Community Love (customer reposts, UGC, and testimonials all over India).
We switched to a Reels-first strategy, which created short-form content featuring the real ghee-making process of a wooden bilona churning, golden ghee being poured into glass jars and mountain scenery of Joginder Nagar. These images were automatically viral and capitalised on the rapidly expanding content trends of slow food and back to roots that were rife in Instagram Reels within the wellness industry.
An organized engagement policy was implemented: a response to all comments within 2 hours, weekly polls and question stickers about Ayurvedic cooking and ghee myths, collaboration with micro food bloggers and wellness makers, who matched the brand spirit. This changed the comment section to almost silent to a daily conversation place where there was a regular save, share, and profile visit.
A DM automation was activated based on a keyword (e.g. an order, bulk, price, ghee) and, upon any user commenting or DMing these words, an individualised welcome message with a product link, a 250ml trial pack, and a direct connection to WhatsApp was sent. This translated passive Instagram interest to warm, qualified leads 24/7 without a person of the brand being online.
All the contents were pegged on a single truth: this is not a ghee it is a story of 6,000 Pahadan women, centuries of tradition, the hills of Himachal Pradesh in a jar.
The Outcome
In 90 days, The Pahadan Instagram account, which was once a passive account, has evolved to become one of the most authentic D2C food brand accounts in the wellness niche. The number of followers increased by 312 percent, organic reach increased by 68 percent with nearly all the promotions occurring through Reels, and the engagement rate increased to an average of 5.2 percent (as compared to less than 1 percent previously). The DM-to-order pipeline delivered a 3.2x boost to monthly WhatsApp leads, and a large portion of them turned to first-time purchase via the 250ml trial pack.
What the Client Said
We never thought that the world would believe in our product and our Pahadans until BoostBySocial made people believe in them as well. It was not just that our numbers were going up, but that our brand got a voice, a community and that people would come back to our story because of Himachal.
An interview with the Founder of The Pahadan’s Farm, the Instagram account, The Pahadan’s Farm
Strategy Snapshot
Core pillars executed across the 90-day campaign:
| Pillar | Tactic | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Consultation Leads (DMs) | < 10 | 120+ |
| Growth | Reels-first material bilona procedure, agricultural tales, mountain pictures | +312% followers, +68% organic reach in 90 days |
| Engagement | Community polls, comment replies, UGC reposts, micro-influencer collabs | The level of engagement increased to 5.2% (previously at <1%) |
| Lead Generation | WhatsApp redirect and keyword triggering DM automation funnel. | Growth in monthly qualified DM by 3.2 times. |
| Brand Story | The contents of heritage portray women farmers, bilona style, village life in Himachal. | AVG. post save rate: 9.4%. |