India today is on the threshold of an organic revolution and Indian Organic Food industry though at a nascent stage, has experienced steadfast growth in past few years. The country’s budding organic food market Is transforming Into world’s fastest growing organic food market backed by a shift In consumer behavior and spending patterns.
Trends In the Industry Organic Food Stores New Varieties on offer Rising Investments Marketing Techniques Organic Food Industry has been blossoming in India. The industry to which overseas emend/exports was oxygen to breathe will be experiencing a colossal change In the consumption pattern In times to come. With growing health awareness among the people coupled with rising disposable incomes and support from Indian government, organic food will surely secure a permanent place in Indian households.
Evolving perception of organic food from being a luxury only for elite to a necessity will drive the domestic consumption. Also, overseas demand for Indian organic food will remain robust and continue to drive the industry to rare heights. Indian Organic Food Industry currently pegged at SUDS 189 million In 2011 Is stated to grow at a CARR of -45%, to reach SUDS 1733 million by 2017.
Of the total 4046 lake ha of land under cultivation, only a minuscule portion 2104 ha is under organic farming. Popular organic crops: Nearly 40,000 farmers in UP are growing organic wheat, rice, pulses, maize, and numerous herbs like Tulsa, Shanghai, Aloe Vera. Harlan grows mostly gettable like tomato, beans, or fruits like summer-squash, melons and mangoes. “Although I sell the produce in Delhi, most of it goes to retail chains”, says Kanata Chuan, a farmer in Soonest. Challenges: Punjab State Farmers’ Commission consultant Dry AS Ranging feels that organic farming cannot feed the entire country. “One can grow vegetables or some wheat for personal use, but it can’t be grown on a large scale. (By Panky Jail, Rashes McGill and Greet Nibble) South Growth: In Kraal, at least 40 % of the farming is organic and the state is set to become the second fully organic state after Skim in 2016. From 7,000 ha in 2007, the state has spread organic cultivation to 16,000 ha. In Andorra Pradesh another 11,500 ha would be added to the current 4273. 54 ha this year. In Karakas, under the organic programmed of the state, an area of 1,18,676 ha has seen organic farming benefiting around one lake farmers, said R Anural, agriculture department. Prevalent in cash crops, rice and vegetables. In Anthrax’s smaller towns and villages, people are slowly shifting to organically grown rice, raga and other millet’s.
In Karakas, crops like pepper, vanilla, coffee, nutmeg -? which are not available in there parts of India -? are a popular choice. Challenges: In large tracts of the state’s tribal belt like Karakas and AP, the farmers have engaged in slash/burn farming for generations and do not use any pesticide or fertilizer. There have been no efforts to take this into account. (By Rammers Babe, Ashes Ads and Navel Embalmed) North East Growth: 30. 92 lake ha out of the net cultivated area of 43 lake ha in the region have never seen the use of chemical fertilizers. Almost 89% of farmland is categorized as organic in Mozart, which passed an Organic Act in 2004.
Whereas Megalith, a major strawberry producer, eyes a turnout of 500 MAT from the current 250 MAT a year. Popular organic crops: Much of the area in the region is taken up by payday, vegetables and fruits such as grapes. The more prosperous farmers are into cultivation of medicinal plants, rose and antirrhinum, primarily for export. “Mozart has become the largest antirrhinum flower producer in India, owing to almost 98% of women antirrhinum growers,” said Samuel Rectangular of Mimosa’s horticulture department. Challenges: Most state governments promote vermin-compost and manure in the region since bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides are difficult to access. By Rural Karma) West Growth: Gujarat has seen substantial growth in organic farming. It currently utilities around 42,000 ha under organic farming. Maharajah’s has been a front runner in organic farming with around 6. 5 lake ha under it, a huge rise from 18,786 ha in 2005-06. In Restaurants, there has been a ten-fold increase. From around 22,000 ha in 2005-06, the state has taken a leap to 2, 17,712 ha. Popular organic crops: Gujarat grows organic wheat, pulses and fruits like mango, cuckoo and papaya. While cotton, turmeric, ginger are some crops grown in Restaurants. In Maharajah’s, cotton, cereals, fruits dominate the organic farming scene. The state has initiated a pilot project to grow grapes that will produce organic wine.
Challenges: “Tribal who hardly use chemical fertilizers are left out of organic benefits,” says Kappa Shah of Satan Trust that promotes organic farming. (By Mashes Lang) Heavy Level was a 22-year-old backpacker when he first came to India in 1987. A graduate from an agricultural boarding school in Israel, he came seeking inner peace from his ‘spiritual guru’, the late H. W. L. Pomona of Locknut, better known as Papa]I. “The quest was to find my true purpose and true self,” he says. He eventually stayed on in India, taking on a new name, Brat Miter, and is currently the Founder and President of Organic India, one of Indian’s leading organic foods companies.
It ended 2012 with RSI 60 core revenues and hopes to reach RSI 90 core this year, with about half of its sales in India. Five years ago, 75 per cent of our revenue came from exports and the rest from the domestic market. Now both markets have equal share:Raja Selma Photo: A Paragraph Organic foods are those made from agricultural products grown without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers. It was from Pappas that Level learnt the healing power of Tulsa (basil plant). By 1997, he had begun cultivating three types of Tulsa organically in Gamma in eastern Attar Pradesh. In 2006 he launched Organic India with Tulsa tea as its flagship product.
Today, the company makes 18 different flavors of Tulsa tea and 33 different herbal formulations or supplements, which are said to have medicinal value. He is gearing up to launch a complete range of organic food items, including rice and pulses. “We are in the final stages of a very promising Joint venture to launch a comprehensive range of products both for the Indian market and for exports,” says Level. He prefers not to reveal the name of the well known Indian company he is negotiating with. Level is not alone. A clutch of entrepreneurs in India is betting big on the domestic organic food market . Consider Raja Selma, an Indian Institute of Management Mohammedan alumnus.
When Level first took up Tulsa cultivation, some 1,200 km down south in Hydrated, Selma was still selling pesticides and fertilizers. From 1988 to 000, he worked in the farm inputs division of E. I. D Parry, a Murmuring Group company, one of the largest industrial groups in India. “It gave me a chance to interact closely with farmers and see the havoc that indiscriminate use of pesticides can create,” he says. This spurred him to consider organic farming, even though he was aware agribusinesses rarely succeed in India, because of low margins and excessive government control. Today, his company, Serest Natural Byproducts, sells a range of 200 organic products in India and overseas from rice, pulses, sugar, and Juices to breakfast cereals and Jams.
Five years ago, 75 per cent of our revenue came from exports and the balance from the domestic market. Now both markets have equal share,” he says. Indeed, the demand for organic foods in India has seen a sharp growth in recent years. While earlier, organic food producers primarily aimed at exports to Europe and the United States, there is now a gradual shift. “The demand for organic foods has been growing and today we stock a range of around 38 different organic foods in 40 stores as against Just about half a dozen stores three years ago,” says S. Aguish Krishna, Chief Operating Officer of the retail and bakery divisions of Heritage Foods, an organic food company with a big presence in Bangor, Achaean and Hydrated.
Most of the big retail chains now stock organic products, including Gouged Nature’s Basket, Hyper City, Food Bazaar, More, Inklings, Spencer and Tests – Stargazer. While no of-facial figures are available, industry estimates put the organic food market within India at close to RSI 100 core, having grown five-fold in the last six years. Willing to stock his products. They feared stocks would not move, since organic foods re significantly more expensive than conventional foods. That is partly due to higher processing costs, since they choose to eschew chemical additives, as well as higher packaging costs, to ensure a reasonably long shelf life.
A kilo of Soon Maseru rice, a well known brand, for instance, sells at RSI 40 per keg while organic rice of the same variety costs RSI 60 per keg. Again, turn deal (a commonly used variety of pulses in India) is available at RSI 90 per keg while its organic version costs RSI 140 per keg. This is despite the doubling of prices of these commodities in the past three years, while the organic variants have stayed at almost the same price levels. Selma was forced to focus on exports. But unwilling to give up on the local market, he set up his own retail stores in four cities – Hydrated, Bangor, Pun and Achaean – to promote organic products. Today, almost every major retail outlet is willing to stock his products.
He has a presence in close to 40 cities and towns, ranging from Patella in the north to Gunter in the south, and broke even last year. So, why have domestic consumers taken to organic foods despite their cost? Musses Guppy, Director of Marjoram Organic, which mainly focuses on the domestic market, attributes it to rising disposable incomes and improved awareness about the health benefits of organic foods. “From 2007 to 2012, the average middle class income in India has shot up. The consumer is willing to pay more for good quality food,” he says. Between 2007 and 2012, the average middle class income in India has shot up. The consumer is willing to pay more for equality food: Musses Guppy Photo: Vivian Emmer/www. Immediateness’s. Mom The demand for organic foods will only grow in India, organic food producers claim, tit the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act from February this year. The new law sets more stringent standards of food safety – raising the bar on the quality of food manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import. The stress on quality under the new Act will push up prices of foodstuff made using conventional techniques, reducing the price differential with organic food, and boosting sales, asserts Guppy. However, consumers would do well to ensure that they only buy certified organic products, say producers. Organic food products manufactured in and exported from
India are marked with the ‘India Organic’ certification mark issued by certification agencies accredited under the the National Programmer for Organic Production (MOP) and monitored by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APED). Most of the ins organic food companies in India voluntarily opt for this certification, though it is not mandatory for domestic sales. “The demand for certified organic foods has been growing since 2001. These are cultivation,” says National Programmer for Organic Production (MOP) Organic products are grown under a system of agriculture without the use of homicidal fertilizers and pesticides with an environmentally and socially responsible approach.
This is a method of farming that works at grass root level preserving the reproductive and regenerative capacity of the soil, good plant nutrition, and sound soil management, produces nutritious food rich in vitality which has resistance to diseases. India is bestowed with lot of potential to produce all varieties of organic products due to its various agro climatic regions. In several parts of the country, the inherited tradition of organic farming is an added advantage. This holds promise for he organic producers to tap the market which is growing steadily in the domestic market related to the export market. Currently, India ranks 33rd in terms of total land under organic cultivation and 88th position for agriculture land under organic crops to total farming area. The cultivated land under certification is around 4. 43 million Ha ( 2010-11).
