EARTHY n GREEN: AN INITIATIVE BY ECOCIATE, A sustainable practice in making India the biggest market for safe food and eco-friendly products and services.
There has been an emerging concern globally on adverse impact of environment & agriculture on health. Increasingly people have been facing a number of lifestyle diseases due to adulterated food and environmental pollution. India is no exception to this. People have been realising the impact and have started switching to safe food and eco-friendly products & services. India would become a market worth USD 3.6 billion (INR 25000 Cr) of organic food by 2025 (Source Indian Organic Sector; Vision 2025: A White Paper by Yes Bank). While India is home to 30% of total organic producers in the world but most of the organic producers are struggling to reach out to right market segments. Ease of access to organic food and awareness about organic brands are challenges to consumption even for willing consumers.
To bridge this gap between producer and consumer as well as to create awareness on safe food, organic products and eco-friendly services, Ecociate, a knowledge organisation working on sustainable business solutions, has recently developed a Digital Platform called ‘Earthy n Green’.
DEVELOPING THE MARKET:
The markets for organic foods in India are largely spread across food & beverages, health & wellness, beauty & personal care and textile industries. The highest growth is observed in the organic food segment, followed by textile, beauty and personal care. There has been a rise on the flow tourists to eco-friendly destinations. The Khadi industry which is one of the most inclusive and sustainable sectors, has become a USD 7 billion market (Khadi sales zoom: touches Rs 50,000 Cr; Times of India, May 1, 2017). Rise of demand for indoor plants and other eco-friendly products are seeing a pull from the market side. Earthy n Green would cater to these set of products and services by linking the actors to a vast network with an initial dual thrust on educating the consumers on the value proposition of such products and services and aiding suppliers to serve the market better.
VALUE IT DRIVES:
Through the digital platform, its goal is to bring all the stakeholders together to collaborate, coordinate and contribute to the growth of the organic food market and eco-friendly products and services. The aim of the initiative is to develop and enable an ecosystem wherein consumers have access to responsible, ethical products and services and market actors have converged to leverage high value.
AWARENESS AMONG CONSUMERS
CONNECT VALUE CHAIN ACTORS
LINK CONSUMERS & MARKETERS
Earthy n Green aims to ensure robust networking among various actors, offer a range of services to create awareness on responsible consumption and help producers at the ground by connecting value chain players, maintaining transparency and ethical trading. The diagram below captures the same.
ALIGNMENT TO SDG GOALS
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The goals are interconnected – often the key to success on one will involve tackling issues more commonly associated with another. Ecociate’s work gets alignment to the following SDGs and it is committed towards making a positive change through its initiatives, projects and network.
ABOUT ECOCIATE BACKGROUND:
Ecociate works with both development and private sectors – that includes bilateral projects, International NGOs, Corporate, MSMEs and social enterprises to support them to move towards creating sustainable business models (SBMs). It offers knowledge and strategic support through appropriate research and consulting skills that ensure the creation of such models. The leadership team of Ecociate has more than 80 years of cumulative experience in creating sustainable and inclusive business models in sectors like agribusiness, food, livelihoods, energy, sanitation and health.
