With increasing per capita income and the emerging middle class demanding safe food products, India’s share of organic food products is expected to touch atleast two per cent by 2020 predicted Dr Lorenzo Boni, project manager assistant, Bioagri Coop, adding, “This is a good figure considering that Italy is not higher than two per cent presently.” Started in 1984, Bioagri Coop is an Italy-based non profit organisation offering promotion, training and research in organic agriculture and sustainable development. According to Dr Boni, presently the per capita consumption of organic food products in India is 0.1 euro and the share of organic food products is 0.25 per cent.

Speaking on the future growth potential of the organic food market in India and the initiatives that can be directed towards this growth, Dr Boni suggested, “The first step is to engage local producers in organic farming and develop a national market with home-grown organic food products. Secondly, local consumers are hardly able to find organic food products on retail shelves and even if they do, the products are highly priced. Hence the pricing needs to be kept at an affordable level so that organic food products can have a wider reach across the country as India is a price oriented market. There are many private labels like Godrej Nature’s Basket which are creating this awareness.”

To create awareness about European organic food products in India, Bioagri Coop has been participating in trade shows, hosting dinners at restaurants, conducting in-shop promotions, etc. “We are trying to make people in the country aware and conscious about the health benefits of organic food. This is our primary focus, while our secondary focus is to promote European organic food products for which we are working with premium European organic food sellers and are providing them the platform to connect with Indian buyers.”

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