BY MOHaMMAD SHOEB
DOHA: Organic food is catching on in Qatar as more and more people are becoming health-conscious.
“Demand for organic food is increasing. We have seen more than 20 percent rise in the number of customers and turnover compared to last year,” a senior official of a leading hypermarket said yesterday.
Organic food is produced with the help of bio-fertiliser or organic manure in specially developed soil to do away with synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilisers.
Major organic produce, including vegetables, fruits, cereals, seeds, pasta, chocolates, candies, biscuits, jams, among others, are regularly arriving in the local market.
Ghassan Jaroudi, Senior Manager, Al Meera Consumer Goods Company, said, “Given the growing demand, we have started importing organic food popular in Europe. We have now shelves with up to 100 items, including ‘Casino BiO’ products such as pasta, jams, chips, chocolates and candies.”
He said local farms have also started producing organic vegetables — tomatoes, cucumber and eggplants so far — in small quantities and most produce is sourced from the US, the UK, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Lebanon and other countries.
Until a few years ago, demand was limited to a small segment of higher- and middle-income people. But growing awareness about benefits of a healthy lifestyle and increasing income levels are expanding the customer base, sources said.
As consumer spending on food is increasing, demand for organic, gluten-free and sugar-free food could grow faster in the coming years, said one source.
Organic food is more expensive and average price difference could be between 50 and 100 percent and much higher in case of some items.
For example, a kilogram of organic wheat may cost about QR35 — nearly seven times more than the regular wheat.
A 250-gramme pack of organic pasta may cost QR19 or more compared to regular pasta at QR3.
Similarly, a 167-gramme packet of organic butter biscuits is available at QR12.75, more than double the price of those made of regular flour. “Not only fruits and vegetables, we have also started selling a wide range of organic products, including chocolates, nuts, cereals, juices, syrups, paste and others,” the hypermarket official said.
“We have maybe 200 or more organic food items at our stores. The size of our shelves is increasing as we are adding more products every week.”
Mano de Rosairo, a Sri Lankan woman, said: “About two months ago, I learned more about benefits of organic food and started buying organic cereals and leafy vegetables.
“It is an investment in my health and I can avoid visits to doctors.”
According to her, while buying organic food at retail outlets, one must check the expiry date, tags and source country to ensure the products are genuine.
Another customer, Nasser, a young expatriate who gave only his first name, said: “My gym instructor has advised me to take organic food such as oat-flax as that helps form muscles faster,” Nasser told this daily. The Peninsula
