The firm has received organic certification for the processing of its dried herb powder and extracts of turmeric, marigold, green tea, ginger, holy basil and sesame. The certification is in compliance with the US National Organic Program (NOP) and National Program for Organic Production (NPOP).
Dr Shiva Prashad, general manager at Olive Lifesciences, said the move should boost business.
“This will definitely give an additional advantage to our business in terms of turnover,” Prashad said.
The certification allows us to claim organic in the US, Europe and India, he said, and an application for Japan has been submitted.
“Presently we have certification for processing. That means we’ll buy organically grown material (certified) from farmers and process it in our certified facility,” he said.
However, he said the company also plans to develop its own organic farms for a few crops including turmeric, marigold and holy basil, he said, but this typically takes around two years to get a farm certified.
The organic processing claims will be issued by the Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) – part of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in India.
Prashad noted that each country (US, Europe and Japan) have their own tracking source to approve these based on our transaction issued by the APEDA.
Playing into consumer demands…
The demand for organic herbal extracts is being driven by consumers predominantly from Europe, the US and Japan, Prashad said.
This latest certification will enable us to cater to this growing demand, he said, and will hold a premium price.
However Olive Lifesciences has no plan to go ‘all organic’, he added, and processing of non-organic extracts and powders will continue.