Start-up to make organic food accessible
Organic & Real works with farmers directly and has over 8,000 products from 50 suppliers
Demand for organic foods is gaining traction as more shoppers turn health conscious and spend on healthy food options than on medical bills.
Manu Mahdi, CEO of Organic & Real.com, said he has seen young people at medical centres with unexpected chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes and cardiac conditions.
“That got me thinking and I found out food is one of the main reasons for these chronic medical conditions. A lot of chemicals are used in farming right now,” he said. Also, there are dietary transformations taking place, with more people taking to a vegan diet.
Organic & Real is an e-commerce portal dedicated to organic products. The GCC market for organic food is still small, ■ but the annual growth rate is tagged at 20 per cent. The UAE market is estimated at around Dh12.4 billion, while Saudi Arabia is around Dh25 billion.
Mahdi said that 90 per cent of consumers stay away from organic foods due to concerns over price and the others do not believe in it.
“They say this is just a marketing trend and since my father did not have organic food, why should I? We are looking at that 90 per cent. That made me venture into organic industry and make a change by providing products to the masses and not to the elite.”
The biggest challenge is during summer as prices can go up more than two-fold. “That is the time when the supply chain has to be put in place and that is what I am looking at,” Mahdi said. “When it is not season here, it is the season in others parts. So, getting it from India at an affordable price and providing it to customers, especially Asian expats, is feasible.
“The only way we can make a change is to influence the supply chain and make it available to more.”
Organic & Real works with farmers and distributors directly and has more than 8,000 products from 50 suppliers. It has about 1,000 registered users.