Develop a business model and establish supply chain for organic food aggregator

Abstract

Organic food market in India is in its initial stages. A lot of supermarkets are now focusing on the organic products because the demand for organic products is increasing in metro cities. Big customers like supermarket chains, big restaurants and now even schools are demanding organic products. One of the major challenges revolving around the organic food market is the strict quality requirement that customers demand, leading to an increase in the overall cost of the products. Adherence to quality standards demands economies of scale which is difficult to achieve considering the small land holdings typical of the Indian farmer. This is where the role of aggregators comes into picture so that they can take advantages of the economies of scale. Currently, there are no major aggregators in the organic food market, that makes quality checks expensive and has thus, prevented the expansion of the organic food market. The aim of this study is to come up with a business model that integrates B2B commerce with a warehousing system and see if decentralisation of aggregation will help build a robust business model that can have an impact on the supply chain. We wish to thank Dr. Srinivas Ravindra from Adi Naturals and Supply Chain Management Centre (IIMB) for giving us the opportunity to work on this project. We also extend our gratitude to Prof. Gopal Naik (IIMB) for guiding us throughout the project.