Mar 12, 2020
Mahindra Group is planning out a strategy for the possibility of introducing its own brand of organic food to tap into the growing urban market of conscious eaters. The idea to bring authentic organic food to the consumer so that it overcomes the lack of consumer trust in the authenticity of organic food products. Alongside reduce the stark price difference between organic and regular food.
The domestic organic food market, presently is pegged at Rs 1000 crore annually.
Ashok Sharma, managing director of Mahindra Agri Solutions formulates that the entry of a brand like Mahindra can help develop that trust and the price differential will be narrowed as the business scales.
Mahindra Agri Solutions sells seeds, micro-irrigation systems, agricultural chemicals, and is also one of the leading exporters of fruits from India to European markets. Now the company has invested in Mera Kisan, an organic food manufacturing startup, to explore this business. It is aiming to scale to a supplier base of 25,000 farmers over the next three-four years to source at least 2 lakh tonnes of organic food. Presently, it has about 8,000 certified organic farmers in its fold.
The Mahindra-backed startup is looking at break-even by 2024 with revenue of Rs 150 crore. Its target is to be among the top three organic food brands in India. It presently sells its products through partners like Haiko Supermarket and online retailers like Big Basket, Amazon and Flipkart.