The story of Organic India, a Lucknow-based organic and herbal agricultural products company, seems straight out of a novel or a movie. Yoav Lev came to India in the late 1980s for a journey that had nothing to do with business. He had traveled from the United States to meet H.W.L Poonja, the spiritual teacher. The time Lev spent at Papaji’s ashram, as Poonja was fondly called by his disciples, changed his journey for life. Along with a group of people, and encouraged by his spiritual teacher to start a busines in India, Lev, who has since changed his name to Bharat Mitra (friend of India) set up Organic India in 1997. 

The idea was to establish a sustainable business model to support the livelihood of thousands of impoverished farmers by providing training and education, and opening markets for herbal products, such as tulsi. Over the past two years, Organic India has grown to a firm with annual sales of Rs150 crore and 300 people. The popularity of its family of herbal products—its flagship tulsi tea, herbal supplements, spices and edible oils—which Organic India exports to more than 35 countries including USA, Canada, Germany and France has given way to what Mitra proudly says is a sustainable, holistic business built on being both environmentally sustainable and socially responsible. All its products meet the stringest testing standards of the many European countries it exports to. 

This country has given me so much peace but it also tests my love on a daily basis.

It has demonstrated that organic (the practice of growing crops without the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers), biodynamic farming (built on crop rotation and a planting calendar that use the cycles of the moon, the sun and the seasons to determine the best time to plant each crop), and ethical wildcrafting (the practice of harvesting plants from the wild in a sustainable manner, without depleting the population or damaging the habitat of the plants that are being harvested) can help create solid companies. Organic India is now looking at an annual revenue of Rs220 crore by 2015, and has continuously grown at an average 35-40 per cent over the past three years. In early 2013, William Bissell’s Fabindia invested in Organic India, and now owns nearly 40 per cent of the company. This equity partnership is helping script a new chapter of growth. Mitra credits his company’s success to the ancient wisdom of India. But, wonders why even as consumers across the world are beginning to make buying choices based on ethical values and sustainability, India’s business community hasn’t kept pace. 

“My spiritual search led me to start business in India. This country has given me so much peace but it also tests my love on a daily basis! There is no doubt that there are many, many challenges especially the bureaucracy and corruption. But, equally, there is much to guide you if you so want to be steered. More than the challenges of business, what has dismayed me most over the past decade or so is the enthusiasm with which corporate India is embracing Western values, and ways of operation and approach that doesn’t do justice to India. It’s devastating to see how big, global companies have changed Indian society; and why we are so willing to bring to organisations interested in making a quick buck here. There was much talk about India being a global economic leader. India can play a major role only if it connected to its core value, if it respects its ancient wisdom, and learns how to integrate that with business. If India will allow globalisation and MNCs to wash over everything it should hold on to, it won’t work. India is destined to provide the world with a whole new model of doing business where there is a focus on making profits but by being value-based and ethical. We can teach the world that there is no contradiction between those two.”