How Truly Desi Aims to Capture a Larger Share of the Organic Foods Market
How Truly Desi Aims to Capture a Larger Share of the Organic Foods Market

The organic food market in India is a niche market, with the market expected to see wider penetration in the coming years. The Indian organic food market is experiencing robust growth with the rising awareness of the products. The growing level of health consciousness in the country is a key factor driving the demand for organic food. The nutritional content and quality of the food they eat have begun to be paid attention to by Indian consumers leading to the growing demand for organic food. Owing to the growing incidences of food adulteration, the demand for organic food is anticipated to rise in the coming years.

In addition, consumer spending on health and wellness products has increased dramatically due to factors including strong economic growth, urbanization, and rising income levels. Also, the strong government funding is catalyzing the market for organic food in India.

The Indian organic food market stood at a value of $849.5 million in 2020. The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of about 20.5 percent in the forecast period of 2021 and 2026 to reach a value of about $2601 million by 2026.

Seeing the huge potential that the market holds, organic food brand Truly Desi aims to take a bigger pie in this market. Co-founded by Rupali Kakade and Mohit Rathod in June 2018, the brand looks to create an ecosystem for the benefit of the consumers and producers of eco-friendly fresh 100 percent certified organic products. It offers organic indigenous dairy products along with food and groceries to the consumers. Its main objective is to find an alternative to the adulterated dairy products that are available on the market.

Products on Offer

Truly Desi has a wide range of products from A2 milk, kulhad dahi, ghee, buttermilk, khawa, and paneer. Milk has always been its entry product in the homes of customers and when they are satisfied with the quality of milk and its services, then they order other products like ghee, paneer, vegetables, etc.

“We will soon introduce A2 ice creams and shrikhand which will be based on the concept of low fat-high protein. We will also expand into superfoods like yogurts and fortified milk, milk-based bars, etc. Here, we are trying to get in touch with brands that are already working on superfoods and collaborate with them in any way possible. So, we are actually exploring this segment right now and don't want to get involved in it without any research and thorough testing,” Rathod asserted.

How Truly Desi Aims to Capture a Larger Share of the Organic Foods Market

The brand does in-house production of all the A2 dairy products by blending in traditional practices. It also supplies fresh products directly from farms to consumers within 24 hours of production.

Spreading Wings

Truly Desi is present through the D2C website and app. The brand also sells through e-commerce platforms like Amazon, You Care Lifestyle, Bombay Organix, Nature’s Basket, and BigBasket.

Additionally, Truly Desi has one company-owned retail store in Balewadi, Pune. Apart from this, the brand is also present in offline formats like Nature’s Basket, Dorabjee’s, and Fine Foods. It further plans to expand its offline presence in Pune as well as Mumbai through the franchisee model, with a target to open 20 more franchise stores of 'Truly Desi Store' across the two cities. Apart from Pune and Mumbai, the brand also plans to build its footprint in Nashik, Nagpur, and Aurangabad, with plans for Tier-II cities as well.

“We have served 5,000+ customers to date including B2C and D2C segments. 70 percent of our sales come from online channels, of which 40-50 percent comes from subscriptions of our A2 dairy products from our app and website,” Mohit Rathod, Co-Founder and CEO, Truly Desi said.

For perishable products, the brand is targeting to strengthen its presence in the Pune and Mumbai markets. For products with longer shelf life, it is targeting the other metro cities too across India.

Technological & Marketing Initiatives

On the technology front, the brand offers IoT and AI-based tracking of various parameters such as health, psychological condition, heat detection, fodder requirement, and the expected milk yield of cows. Its blockchain-based ERPs reduce wastage and efficiently manage the inventory and supply chain. Additionally, the brand will be providing complete traceability to farms for consumers using Blockchain.

How Truly Desi Aims to Capture a Larger Share of the Organic Foods Market

On the marketing front, the brand drives sales by providing referral schemes to its consumers, along with rewards. It also does awareness campaigns, workshops, and activities in residential townships, malls, gyms, and other public areas to make people aware and educate them about safe and organic food. Besides, Truly Desi is focusing on influencer marketing, resulting in higher sales and eventually opening up new avenues for expansion.

READ MORE: Impact of Pandemic on Organic Food Industry

Future Ahead

Truly Desi is currently bootstrapped and it is looking to raise Rs 8-10 crore in the next few months. The brand’s last year revenue stood at Rs 2.85 crore and this year’s target is Rs 8 crore.

“We're also trying to get connected to farmers around Pune who are interested in organic farming and who are already into organic farming. Another thing is that we want to come up with groceries and focus more on in-brand products,” Rathod stated.

In the long-term, the brand’s objective is to get into agro-tourism and traceability, where all of its products will have a QR code. Customers can scan the QR code and receive all the details about the farm, the health and diet of the cows along with their mental health as well as details about all other products available to them.

Additionally, Truly Desi wants to increase distribution by partnering with distributors and modern retailers such as Reliance Fresh and Star Bazaar across India. Also, it looks for institutional tie-ups with corporates, mega kitchens, and airports for enabling bulk sales of dairy products in the canteens and the installation of dispensing machines for products like buttermilk and flavored milk.

“We are also coming up with electric grocery vans 'Truly Desi EKart' and partnering with micro-entrepreneurs for selling the products in residential areas on profit sharing basis. We further eye cross-selling model with other established brands in the same sector. Besides, we will start exporting organic groceries, vegetables, and fruits to the USA, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East,” he concluded.

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