Raj Seelam: The search for an Organic mantra

The story of 24 Mantra Organic dates back to 1994, when Rajashekar Reddy Seelam, while working for an agricultural products company witnessed alarmingly high usage of pesticides and chemicals on farms  growing agricultural produce. Farmers took loans to buy the pesticides and chemicals resulting in rural indebtedness and threatening the very existence and sustainability of the farmers.

Raj Seelam was quick to conclude that organic farming is the answer to this. After years of research, he founded Sresta Natural Bioproducts in 2004, the company that owns and sells 24 Mantra Organic brand of organic food products.

Raj set out on a lifelong journey with a three-fold mission – improving the life of  farmers, providing safe, pure and healthy food to consumers and creating  a sustainable environment. In a span of 16 years, the company has a built of community of 50,000+ farmers in 15 states cultivating over 3,00,000 acres of farm land.

Speaking of the challenges he faced while getting into the organic sector, Raj says, “As with every business, the initial few years is the toughest period. One of the biggest challenges that I faced was convincing small groups of farmers of the benefits of organic farming (such as income growth by 15-20% in the long run, wherein he need not invest in fertilisers and reduced financial and health risks). Another challenge was training them to build soil fertility, crop rotation, techniques to increase diversity and population of microorganisms, green leaf manuring, etc.”

The retail reject

His uphill journey did not end with the farmers though. Preservation and storage of organic food is a lot more challenging, and more than a decade ago, setting up the infrastructure for the produce was a Herculean task. If that was not enough, when he finally did have the produce ready and launched the products, none of the large retailers in the country were willing to stock the brand. The first three to four years, Raj  and his team were focussed in their efforts to make India go the organic way once again, trying to convince retailers that organic will sell.

Over the years, the company has built an impressive portfolio of over 200 products ranging from staples like rice, atta, pulses, gluten free flours, spices, oils, honey to ready-to-cook products to teas and infusions. Broadly, the products of 24 Mantra Organic fall under three distinct categories: Cooking essentials, packaged food and beverages.

As regards certification, organic certification is a process that helps producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products to get their products certified through internally accredited certification bodies Control Union, Onecert, IMO, Indocert etc. At 24 Mantra’s farming projects, products and processing facilities have been certified for EC 834/2007 standards, US NOP and Indian NPOP organic standards. Most of the projects are certified by Control Union and Onecert.

Exports form a sizeable portion of 24 Mantra Organic’s revenue. 24 Mantra Organic exports to over 50 countries, worldwide from USA and Canada to Europe, Middle East, Singapore and Australia.

Putting power in the consumer’s hands

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an uptick for safe and healthy foods. Consumers are more health conscious than ever before as they are looking at building immunity by consuming food that are free of of harmful chemicals and pesticides. If the latest trend is anything to go by and with the pandemic not receding in the foreseeable future, this wave is sure to stay.

“Sensing this demand, we have just launched a range of Organic Wild Honey infused with ingredients like Turmeric, Ginger, Tulsi and Neem for building immunity and for overall health and wellness. We also plan to launch a range of packaged/ready-to-cook products and healthy snacks,” shares Raj.

Apart from these product launches, Raj is also set to launch a new initiative which aims to put power in the hands of consumers. He informs, “With our Traceability initiative, consumers will now be able to gain more information and knowledge like the location where the produce was grown and harvested, the farmers behind it, among a host of other information. This initiative is a reinforcement of 24 Mantra Organic’s commitment to transparency and building trust among our consumers.”