"Dream, Dream, Dream! Conduct these dreams into thoughts, and then transform them into action."
- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
27 Dec 2022
Sresta, a company based in Hyderabad, Telangana, entered the organic food market in 2004. Most farmers relied on chemical inputs to increase crop productivity at the time, making organic food an exotic idea. The government developed programs to assist and promote organic farming only ten years later.
Rajshekhar Reddy Seelam, the man behind the farm-to-fork initiative Sresta, made the decision to employ a two-pronged approach. The business provides ongoing assistance to farmers in order to help them transition to organic farming from using chemical inputs. Additionally, it buys, prepares, and markets the product to ensure a stable market.
In order to generate customer demand for the products, Sresta simultaneously funds extensive awareness campaigns regarding organic farming and its advantages for both human health and the environment. According to “India: Organic Industry Market Report-2021” published by the United States Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service, the company's brand name "24 Mantra" now holds the biggest market share for organic food goods.
From 40 farmers to 40,000 farmers, the company now operates across roughly 81,000 hectares (ha) in 15 states. Sresta's list now contains approximately 200 items, ranging from flour, grains, pulses, millets, dried fruits, and spices to flours, cold-pressed oil, pickles, biscuits, culinary pastes, jams, and ready-to-eat products, as opposed to the original acquisition of wheat, mustard, gram, and barley.
As organic products are sold at prices 40-60 percent higher than those for conventional products, farmers are also seeing their incomes soar. The products have gradually become popular and are sold in over 7500 stores and on e-commerce platforms. Sresta thus helped to expand the farm-to-fork philosophy to promote organic farming.