I was doing some regular household shopping in a supermarket in Powai, Mumbai yesterday. One of the shelves in the supermarket was dedicated to soymilk. I could not resist staying away from the shelf as I am quite familiar with soymilk (MGIRI, where I am doing a project presently, provides training on soya processing which involves manufacturing of soymilk as well). 

I lifted a pack and started reading the labels. This particular pack was a tetra pack and had the words "Made in USA". Having visited the Ashti Taluka, Wardha last week, which has about 70% of the land under soyabean cultivation, this came as a surprise to me, especially when I am involved in making a plan for development of agri-processing (and other) industries in the taluka. 

Well, I should also mention here that the price of the soymilk was Rs. 200 for one litre. What a joke! Soymilk is normally favoured in India as poor man's milk as a substitute for the regular cow / buffalo milk.  The manufacturing price of soymilk is not more than Rs. 5 per litre. If we consider the packing (tetra pack), marketing and huge margins, soymilk should not cost more than Rs. 25 per litre. By the way, buffalo milk in a tetra pack costs Rs. 36 per litre.

So what makes this Rs. 200 per litre foreign soymilk find space on the shelf of an Indian supermarket? I feel to get an answer we should ask some more questions - Why does the supermarket sell this soybean instead of a cheaper one? Do Indian companies/organizations manufacture soymilk? Why are they not able to sell the soymilk in such supermarkets? Why does the consumer buy such a product?

Why does the supermarket sell this soybean instead of a cheaper one? My thoughts are that the real mission of the supermarket is not to provide good products to the customers at lower price, but to make money for the owner. If this is not true, why on earth will the supermarket sell tamarind with the label Made in Thailand at 3-4 times higher price when lot of tamarind in India goes waste for lack of consumers? Why don't you get loose eggs and milk (without tetra-packs) in most of the supermarkets?

Do Indian companies/organizations manufacture soymilk? Yes they do and since a long time. I remember soymilk was available in small bottles (like the present day flavoured milk bottles) even two decades back.

Why are they not able to sell the soymilk in such supermarkets? Most of the Indians (or a major part of the world including the US and Europe) lack modern marketing based entrepreneurial skills. They are not able to sell such products to consumers. Such products include tamarind sauce, ber juice, kokam sharbat, herbal soaps, etc. The lack of clarity on the regulatory scenario is also a big problem. What licenses are required to manufacture and sell products and how do you apply for them is a big puzzle for Indians even after 63 years of independence.

Why does the consumer buy such a product? Today's metro-based consumer is ignorant of the world they live in. They hardly know that small onions are better than large onions, and that the gavran dhaniya (the one with smaller leavers) is better than the hybrid dhaniya (the one with large leaves) both in nutrients and taste - the list is endless. They don't know that the price of eggs in the "free" market is Rs. 28 per dozen while the eggs they buy from most shops and supermarkets are labeled - MRP Rs. 63 and sold at a Rs. 7 discount to lure you. The criteria for judging a product to be good has become skewed up. For the modern consumer - If something is priced higher - means it is good in quality. If something is imported - means it is good in quality.   

So how do we resolve this?

I think most of the trade has always been this way throughout the world since ages, the traders (and businessmen) are more interested in maximizing their profits, so it is foolish to expect the supermarkets to provide a good and properly-priced product to their customers. However, companies like Google have shown to the world that working solely in favour of the consumer, especially on the Internet, and focusing on providing good service and products to the consumer in turn helps you increase your business. I hope this gets replicated in other sectors too.

There needs to be some serious work to be done on improving the regulatory scenario - both for licensing and quality control. While this requires the government to take action, many individuals have felt the necessity to compile information on regulations for the micro sector. I am sure in one-two years good documentation and training programs will be available on this.

IT can play a big role in educating the consumers. I am amazed by the way people respond to the content on www.organicfacts.net and feel that similar websites will help consumers take better decisions. When we compare Internet with word-of-mouth, books, print media, radio and television, I feel providing quality information is not just easy but also cheap, enabling people to provide good quality information for mass dissemination.

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