Food & Beverage News: Top Stories - Organic white revolution, need of the hour

In view of the huge demand for organic milk in the global and Indian markets, ECOCERT - one of the leading organic food, cosmetics and textiles certification firms in India, organised a national convention on organic milk and milk products in Ahmedabad last week.

Dr Selvam Daniel, managing director, ECOCERT India, said that India should launch another White Revolution with the focus shifting to organic milk production. Gujarat could play a key role in this regard.

"Only organic milk will address concerns of Indian citizens regarding the quality of milk they have been consuming. Global consumption of organic milk has been increasing 20% annually in view of its well-documented health benefits. In contrast, the overall milk consumption has been falling by 10% annually (693 million tonnes in 2008)," Dr Daniel said.

Wal-Mart is the biggest seller of certified organic milk, followed by the US-based Horizon Organic and France's Groupe Danone. In fact, the European Union nations as well as Norway, Switzerland, New Zealand, Japan and Canada all have banned the use and imports of hormonal milk and dairy products considering the cancer-causing ingredients in conventional milk.

The organic milk contains more vitamin E and beta carotene. British research bodies have confirmed the presence of higher levels of Omega 3 fatty acids in organic milk.

According to Dr Daniel, only organic milk could help India tap global opportunities in the dairy sector. India exports little milk though it is the largest global producer of milk (125 million tons of milk annually). This is primarily because of quality issues.

"In view of the consumer's increasing concerns about milk adulteration, there is a huge demand for organic milk in India. According to a study done by International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture and reputed marketing research and agribusiness consultancy genus a.b; milk is among top 10 organic foods categories in demand in India," Dr Daniel added.

At present, the market potential for milk and milk products in India was estimated at Rs 170 crore - about one-fifth of the Rs 2,300 crore is organic food productions.