Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim wants Indians to go organic for health

For his followers, Gurmeet Ram Rahim is a spiritual leader who evokes the veneration of a saint. On January 24, Rahim showed that he also has an entrepreneurial side to him. The Haryana-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief launched a slew of organic products under the name MSG (Messenger of God).

The idea came after a visit to Jodhpur in Rajasthan, where he saw people exporting organic products to Germany and Japan. "All organic products were exported to foreign countries. Guruji wanted Indians to experience the same stuff," said Ajay Insan, spokesperson, MSG All Trading Company.

It also helped that Dera Sacha Sauda fields were already producing organic grains. In fact, Ram Rahim - the brain behind the organic food chain - had been promoting farming by conducting farmer training camps. Earlier, the products produced in Dera fields were used only to serve organic food for the Dera followers. It has now hired an agency to design and brand its products.

"We have not launched any specific marketing campaign," says Insan. "There is hardly any need to market the products which are already in short supply. We are not able to fulfil the demand," says Insan.

The size of demand for organic food items can be gauged from the fact that the entire stock at a Sirsa store was sold within two hours of the launch of the chain on January 24.

"We have already opened a number of stores and more will be opened soon," says Insan, adding that people are showing great interest in running the stores.

A total of 150 products have already been launched under the MSG brand and plans are afoot to introduce another 250 in the near future.

The brand has three product categories, namely Organic, Premium and Standard. The products are classified on the basis of the grading of grains and fruits. "We do not use any pesticides or chemicals to grow them," says Insan.

Like Baba Ramdev, Ram Rahim too claims to have no direct role in the business. "Guruji has been made the brand ambassador of the products," says Insan.

He is also not worried about competition from the bigwigs, including Patanjali Ayurveda.

"We have not launched the stores to give competition to others," explains Insan.

As of now the Dera also has no plans to export its products. It initially wanted to cater to Indian consumers only, though some have approached to take the business overseas.

"Our tagline is 'Every Indian, Healthy Indian'," says Insan. With a follower base of over six crore, it seems, MSG is sure to make at least a few Indians healthy.

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