Is Organic Food a 'Luxury Belief' for the Privileged?

Plus! Inside 24 Mantra Organic's ₹500 crore (~$62 Mn) IPO Prayers

Credits: Virpi/ Businessillustrator.com. Based on the book, ‘The Impossibilities of the Circular Economy - Separating Aspirations from Reality’

In Today’s Edition:

1/ Is Organic Food a ‘Luxury Belief’ for the Privileged?

Has Organic food become a ‘luxury belief’ for the elites (and that includes me as well) who can afford to worry about synthetic chemicals inside food, while farmers struggle to grow ‘food’ (if it can be called so) in the first place and earn a penny more?

2/ Peeking Inside 24 Mantra Organic’s Prayers for 500 crore IPO

Will 24 Mantra Organic’s IPO prayers work when it is close to impossible for traceability systems to find out if organic food is organically grown and D2C organic food players are quietly carving their niche (while eating away traditional organic food players’ share) among premium ‘safe food’ buyers?

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Is Organic Food a 'Luxury Belief' for the Privileged?

My residue feelings about certified branded organic food products that are available across the market shelves of the world could be summed up with one of my recent interactions with an urban farmer acquaintance I met in my son’s school.

While we were exchanging pleasantries about the work we do in agriculture, our conversation turned towards organic and boy, he got so incensed and unleashed a tornado of a rant that left me bewildered.

When the storm settled, it was obvious. He was pained by how much the market has been duping customers and exploiting them in the name of organic foods. 

I don’t blame him. 

If you look at the organic food market in India, it’s a dapper-looking curve that will sound music to the players who are eager to jump on the organic food bandwagon. A recent survey on the organic food business indicated that ‘81 per cent of the companies operating in the organic food business found it to be more profitable vis à-vis the conventional food business.

Recent Presentation by Manoj Kumar Menon, Executive Director, International Competence Center for Organic Agriculture at BCIC

Organic business is much sweeter (read as more profitable) for exporters than those looking at domestic markets.

Growing Trends of Exports and Destinations, 2019-20, Destination Countries - 58 || Presentation by Manoj Kumar Menon at BCIC

There is only one problem though.

We don’t have a way yet to find out if the farmer grew the organic food organically.

It’s a strange tautology.