Let me share an experience I had a few days ago. I visited an organic store to buy mustard oil, freshly pressed by a Kachi Ghani machine. Since the process takes time, I waited in the store and struck up a conversation with the manager about their product sources. After about 15 minutes, and realizing I was well-versed in organic products, the manager opened up. He revealed that everything in the store, except for fox nuts and a particular type of wheat priced at ₹200/kg, was non-organic.
Although I’m aware of the various frauds in the organic industry, this was beyond what I considered acceptable. I was shocked to see customers purchasing these items under the assumption they were truly organic, without checking their authenticity.
This is why OrganicBasket aims to bring more transparency to the organic industry. We plan to label all products using a specific color-coding system. The purpose of this is threefold:
- Transparency: Customers will clearly understand the standard of the product they’re purchasing.
- Affordability: The system will allow people to choose products that fit their budget.
- Trustworthiness: It will help build greater trust in the organic industry as a whole.