The Hindu Business Line : Global organic food market seen growing 13% a year

THE worldwide organic food market is about $40 billion, and is growing at the rate of 13 per cent a year, according to Mr Rajashekar Reddy Seelam, Managing Director, Sresta Natural Bioproducts.

Sresta is the promoter of 24 Lettered Mantra, a company that has contract farming projects on more than 5,000 acres in the country, all of which are organic in nature. Around 800,000 farmers are under the company's employment, and an investment of Rs 2.5 crore went into the entire project. The company hopes to break even in 2006-07.

Some of Sresta's products include fresh fruits, vegetables, rice and dal, as well as bakery products such as bread and cake.

He said Sresta has attempted to keep its prices affordable, at about 10 to 30 per cent higher than the normal product.

The company has retail outlets in Hyderabad and Chennai, and will open centres in Bangalore and Pune by April, and will expand to include all the major cities in the country by the year-end, according to Mr Seelam.

It is also in talks with companies in Europe for exports.