Mother Dairy, which has forayed into the organic food segment, plans to make Safal Organic, a ₹100 crore brand in the next three years.
Initially, Safal Organic, an extension of the company’s existing horticulture brand Safal, will be available at 100 select booths in the Delhi-NCR region.
The company’s organic range under Safal Organic includes fresh fruits and vegetables, pulses, rice, spices, millets, dry fruits, wheat flour, besan, sugar, salt and flattened rice flakes (poha), in bio-degradable and recyclable packages.
Saugata Mitra, Director, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd said
The company is sourcing fresh organic produce from certified organic farms in Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
“With evolving consumer needs, organic as a category is gaining traction among urban masses and as a consumer-centric organisation, we would like to be a part of this evolving consumer trend and serve them with quality products. With expertise of over 30 years in the horticulture segment, the organic food foray seemed to be a natural progression for us,” he added.
Distribution plans
Asked about plans for distribution expansion, Mitra said that besides its own booths, the company could also look at retailing the organic range of products through general trade and modern trade by the end of the current fiscal in Delhi-NCR.
The company said that the new range of organic products is competitively priced. Mother Dairy intends to further expand the Safal Organic range with introduction of seasonal fruits and vegetables, honey, rock salt and additional varieties of whole spices and pulses.
According to a report by Assocham and EY, the Indian organic packaged food industry is expected to touch the ₹871 million mark by 2021 through growth in metro cities, increased awareness and government initiatives.
Mother Dairy said that Safal’s organic supply chain has been set up as per the mandate of the National Programme for Organic Production and conforms to the ‘Jaivik Bharat’ initiative of the FSSAI. For ‘Safal Organic’, farms with NPOP certification are selected and duly audited by Mother Dairy experts, it added.