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Quick commerce & e-commerce propel organic food sector
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Wednesday, 26 August, 2026, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Anurag More, Mumbai
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Quick commerce, e-commerce and modern retail are creating new growth opportunities for India’s organic food sector, while stronger certification support, supply-chain transparency and action against misleading organic claims could further accelerate the industry’s development, according to Surya Shastry, Founder & Managing Director of Pure & Sure, Phalada Organic Consumer Products Pvt Ltd.
Shastry said quick commerce has widened access to organic staples among time-pressed consumers, while e-commerce provides brands with greater scope to communicate sourcing practices, product information and quality credentials. Modern retail, meanwhile, continues to play an important role in product discovery and building consumer trust.
“Our strategy is to meet consumers wherever they shop, while keeping the same sourcing and testing standards consistent across every channel,” he said. However, the organic food industry continues to face challenges related to certification costs and complexity, particularly for small farmers. Shastry said consumer education has also not kept pace with the expansion of the organic category.
He called for simplified and subsidised certification pathways for smallholders, along with stronger enforcement against organic mislabelling. Such measures, he said, would help protect the credibility built by genuine players in the sector.
Pure & Sure, which has been operating in the organic segment since 1999, differentiates itself through direct relationships with farmers, batch-level testing and a focus on verifiable sourcing practices, according to Shastry.
“We know the farms our produce comes from, not just the region. Every batch is tested, not spot-checked,” he said, adding that consistency and transparency remain central to building consumer confidence in the organic category.
The company’s traceability systems begin at the farm and extend through processing and batch-level testing. By working directly with a known network of farmers rather than relying on aggregators, Phalada aims to maintain a shorter and more accountable supply chain.
Digital tools and automation are also being deployed to track products from farm intake through testing and distribution, helping reduce manual errors and improve the speed of quality checks. Shastry said such systems are increasingly important in giving consumers greater visibility into the origin and journey of their products.
On international expansion, Shastry said exports form a meaningful part of the company’s growth strategy. Markets including the US, Europe and the Middle East are showing demand for credibly sourced Indian organic produce and ingredients.
He sees significant opportunities in categories where Indian agriculture has an established advantage, including spices, pulses and speciality grains.
The company is also working with its farmer network to address the growing impact of climate volatility. Training initiatives focus on soil health, crop diversification and water-efficient agricultural practices while maintaining organic certification standards.
“It's a long-term partnership model; we succeed only if our farmers can sustain organic cultivation season after season, not just in a good year,” Shastry said.
Changing consumer expectations are also pushing organic brands towards greater ingredient transparency. According to Shastry, consumers increasingly want to understand not only what is present in a product, but also what has been excluded and why.
Pure & Sure is responding by focusing on testing protocols and sourcing transparency rather than relying solely on packaging claims, he added.
In the evolving private-label and premium organic retail landscape, the company is positioning itself around its long operating history and consistent organic practices rather than competing primarily on price or packaging.
The company is also tapping into the growing interest in functional nutrition and superfoods by highlighting the nutritional strengths of traditional Indian agricultural products such as millets, pulses and cold-pressed oils.
Shastry said the focus is on building the nutritional story around ingredients that already form part of India’s agricultural heritage rather than pursuing every emerging functional food trend
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