Interest in Indian Organic Food Growing Globally

International buyers from China South Korea, Vietnam, Mexico, South Korea, and European Union have shown interest in Indian organic food to fulfill the growing demand back in their countries.

Foreign buyers have shown inclination toward Indian organic food during their visit to BIOFACH-2018, which was organized in New Delhi from Oct.25-27, 2018. The event, dubbed as “India’s largest international trade fair on organic products” was organized by Agricultural Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

According to a report in agriculture trade magazine Krishi Jagran, international customers expressed interest in Indian organic products like tea, spices, honey, basmati rice, coffee, cereals, dry fruits, and vegetables, etc.

These visitors didn’t limit themselves to just selling and buying, but also interacted with farmers and companies to get an understanding of Indian farming practices.

The publication quoted Paban K Borthakur, Chairman, APEDA as saying, “Apart from showing interest in Indian organic products international customers are also interacting with Indian companies and farmers and exchanging information, resources, and knowledge about agricultural practices at the event. They have suggested that in order to trade globally, the three factors that Indian farmers needed to consider were quality, quantity and price point.”

Their area of interest was also not limited to food items, but they explored various organic products in the categories of beauty, health, and personal care. The organic products in major demand during the event were seeds, pulses, medicinal plant products etc.

“The major demand under organic category is for flax seeds, sesame, and soybean; for pulses such as Arhar, Chana and rice besides tea and medicinal plants,” Knowledge and News Network (KNN), a community-owned not-for-profit alternative media platform, quoted Paban K Borthakur as saying.

According to the report, exports of organic products from India has grown 39 percent in 2017-1 to $ 515 million. While in 2017, it was $370 million. A total 4.58 lakh metric ton of organic products were exported from India during 2017-18.

BIOFACH India is country’s largest event dedicated to organic products, which provides the perfect a common platform to various stakeholders of the organic sector.

APEDA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Commerce. It is dedicated to promote the export of various agricultural products. It also provides a platform to showcase India’s quality products to the international market.