Sresta Natural to expand through franchisees

Sresta Natural Bioproducts, which operates organic superstore '24 Lettered Mantra' in the country, plans to expand footprints through franchisee route.

The company so far has huge presence in and around Hyderabad and is now planning to enter cities of Chennai and Bangalore in south, Pune and Mumbai in the west, before moving to north India, Rajashekar Reddy Seelam, managing director of the company told Business Standard.

"For the national roll out, supply chain mechanism and storage facilities were the two big critical issues for the organic foods segment to grow and presently we are addressing them," he added.

The company is the first in India to enter organised retailing of organic foods. Presently it has four stores with the biggest spread over 3,000 square feet. The demand for organic foods in India is slowly increasing as people are getting exposed to them as they are travelling abroad frequently, he said.

As part of the roll out, each store is to have a fresh fruits and vegetable section, a grocery section and a cafe serving organically made snacks and juice sections.

Product range includes fresh fruits, vegetables, rice, dals, flours, cold pressed edible oils, spices, tea, coffee, jams, marmalades, pickles, Jaggery, natural sugar, dried fruit snacks, low oil snacks, a wide range of wholesome bakery products, etc.

Globally, concern for health, pesticide residues, adulteration and nutrient dilution of foods at one end and a spate of farmer suicides across the country, organic foods and organic farming has moved centre stage, he said. The global organic foods market is valued at $40 billion and is growing at more than 13 per cent per annum.

"Seeing this potential, we felt there is a need for wholesome chemical free foods in India. But due to lack of systematic, organised production and marketing efforts the potential has not been fully tapped," said Rajashekar.

To tap this segment of food chain, Sresta Natural Bioproducts has invested Rs 2 crore in building centralised warehouse and operates through certified contract manufacturers. The company aims to bridge the gap between the customers' need and availability of organic foods.