Tamil Nadu cooperatives ride digital wave, launch App to sell organic products

With the aim to provide a fillip to the cooperative movement and enable consumers especially in cities to access to natural and organic products directly without the involvement of a middleman, Tamil Nadu’s Ministry of Cooperatives has started a mobile app which is called Coop Bazaar.

With the help of this app, launched by K.R. Periyakaruppan, Minister of Cooperatives at the Secretariat, the buyers can purchase grocery items including hill products like spices, honey and pepper. Incidentally, all these products are made by cooperative societies across the State.

The products that will be sold on this app in the first phase include honey, cooking oil, pepper, coconut oil, gingelly oil, coffee powder, groundnut, and turmeric powder among others. The 64 products to be sold through the app are manufactured by eight cooperative societies. The State-level apex body, Tamil Nadu Cooperative Marketing Federation played the role of coordinator for developing the app.

Providing details about the app, an official of the Cooperative Department said that it will sell black pepper from Kolli Hills and natural honey extracted from Sathyamangalam forest. Besides this, 20 types of high-value fertilisers have been introduced for sale which people in cities can use for their rooftop gardens and home gardens.

The products will be organic like the coconut oil sold is produced without using sulphur. Plans are afoot to include more commodities produced by cooperative stores.

The authorities are in talks with the delivery agencies to reduce courier charges.