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It has taken some time for India to become active in organic agriculture and organic marketing, but the subcontinent is now picking up speed. A whole series of large-scale initiatives have been created in the past years. Its appearance in Nuremberg as Country of the Year at BioFach in February 2012 also indicates the ambitious plans India is pursuing.

 

Export as key pillar of organic marketing

India started exporting mainly tea to Europe in the early 90s and also set up the first partnerships with German organic food companies. Today a large selection of approx. 300 products is available in some 20 product categories: from tea, spices, fruit, rice, corn and vegetables to finished products and organic cotton. More than 40% of the products are exported to Europe, and other trading partners are Canada, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Switzerland, Korea and countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Export is a mainstay of organic marketing and is to be expanded further to reach a volume of one billion US dollars by 2015.

Who does not know tea classics such as Darjeeling or Assam?	Hot chili is an important ingredient in a lot of Asian dishes	Pulses like lentils are popular sources of proteins

Varied organic trading landscape developing at national level

The domestic market is not being forgotten either. Indian companies are in the process of developing or expanding diverse marketing channels. According to information from the official Indian export development organization APEDA, there are currently about 2,000 shops selling organic products. The conventional trade also stocks organic products on its shelves. Annual sales were some 543 million US dollars in 2010. The marketing pioneers include the organic food shops of the Navdanya Initiative set up by Vandana Shiva. The entrepreneur Raj Seelam with his 24 Letter Mantra brand and organic food retail chain and the Morarka Foundation have also been very active for many years. The latter operates two of its own stores called Down to Earth, is present with the Down to Earth brand in other shops, offers ordering facilities via the online shop and a catering service, plus a broad spectrum of raw materials from its own production.

The first Organic Haus flagship store opened mid of November in Ahmedabad.	A second shop is to follow in early 2012 in Mumbai.	Modern, light and spacious store design with a lot of natural materials.

A newcomer is the Organic Haus concept. The former cricket star Dilip Doshi opened his first shop in Ahmedabad in 2011, one or two outlets are to follow in Mumbai at the beginning of this year, and other shops are planned for the coming years – partly also as franchise shops. Organic Haus is a very modern design concept on 200 to 300 square metres with gastronomy services. The special feature of the range are the many brand products from German organic food and natural cosmetics manufacturers. These include products from Allos, Beutelsbacher, Bionade, Byodo, Logona, Rapunzel, Salus, Schnitzer, Schoenenberger, Sonnentor, Sonett and Vivani.

It will be interesting to see how the domestic market develops in the coming years. According to a survey of 1,000 consumers in ten Indian cities, over 30% of those interviewed would like to buy organic products and are prepared to spend 10% - 20% more for them. Box schemes and online delivery services are very popular due to the still low concentration of organic shopping facilities.

Extension of organic growing area planned

There is also a great deal happening at the agricultural production level. The area currently farmed by organic methods is about 1.2 million hectares, plus several hundred thousand hectares in the conversion phase. The organic farming area is to be increased to five million hectares in the coming years according to the ambitious plans, for which both the national government and many federal states will provide funds. The states of Bihar and Sikkim, for example, will each provide 20 million US dollars, and Karnataka as much as 50 million US dollars. The Ministry of Commerce is also involved and takes care of developing the marketing measures for the domestic market and export.

 

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