Mangalore: Satvam Organics - Towards healthier lifestyle choices
Vineeth Monis
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Apr 27: Currently, people have become more health conscious given the number of diseases on the rise. Programmes like ‘Satyameva Jayate’ and other awareness programmes have shown people the ill-effects of pesticides. Organic farming thus comes into the picture as a good alternative.
Organic food has become very popular in various places and has appeared in our city too. Daijiworld recently spoke to the owners of the first ever complete organic and natural products outlet in the city, Satvam Organics, located in Deepa Enclave.
Satvam Organics is owned by three partners—Dr Anasuya, Ayurvedic physician by profession, Sudarshan, a farmer from the city, and Kumarprasad, an engineer. When asked on how they came up with this unique outlet, Dr Anasuya said her brother Kumarprasad and she were brought up in a family which used pesticide-free, unpolished food products, and this practice was a habit with them since childhood.
She said they also wanted other people to make a commitment to organic products for a great, healthy life and hence they decided to start an outlet in the city. During this, they came across farmer Sudarshan who also agreed to be their partner.
Dr Anasuya said it took five years of planning to start an outlet in the city and after planning all resources, the outlet was opened on November 2012.
Comprising of more than 200 organic and natural products, the shop consists of 95 percent of organic and the rest are natural products. Vegetables, dehydrated banana, jackfruit, pure ghee, saffron, spices without adulteration, olive oil, pickles, groundnut oil, ‘kumkum’, ‘kokkum’ jam, unpolished boiled rice, different types of jaggery, natural salt (not refined), beaten rice, soaps without synthetic addictives, and lip balms of different varieties are among the few products available.
These products have been purchased from six farmers’ co-operatives and more than eight farmers from various places like Gadag, Belgaum, Theerthahalli, Mysore, Sirsi, Puttur, Suratkal, Vittal, Vagga, Neermarga, and BC Road. Some farmers even exchange their organic products on a barter system.
An interesting thing noticed at the outlet were sweets kept for sale. These were prepared by some housewives in the city during their spare time. Another add on is that the owners of the outlet will soon sell homemade hygienic ‘Kulfi’ which they will purchase from Vasanth, a resident of Melkar, about 30 kms from the city.
When asked about fast selling products in the city, Dr Anasuya said that all the products have a huge demand especially vegetables and unpolished boiled rice where 300 to 400 kgs a month is being sold.
Commenting on the problems, she said that as products are being sourced from faraway places, some of the products, especially vegetables, get spoilt during transportation. Another problem is that a few organic products are usually seasonal and hence it is not available all the time. In addition to this, only a few farmers opt for organic farming.
“The prices of the organic products are on par with the other products available in the supermarket. However, when we compare it to a wholesale shop, the products are slightly expensive,” she adds.