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Current Position:Home » News » Marketing & Retail » Food Marketing » Topic

Many companies consolidating for grape export

Zoom in font  Zoom out font Published: 2016-04-08  Views: 3
Core Tip: For many of India's fresh produce growers, competition on the world stage brings prices that aren't as attractive as those that can be found at home.
For many of India's fresh produce growers, competition on the world stage brings prices that aren't as attractive as those that can be found at home. That's the case for commodities like mangoes and apples, but for the country's table grape growers, there's a window of time during which the export market can be very lucrative, and that has many Indian companies investing in additional acreage and facilities to handle more exports to Europe.

“If on the domestic market you can get 30 rupees for a kilogram of grapes, you can get 45 or more rupees for that kilogram if you ship to Europe,” said SK Sharma of Global Agrisystem. SK's company is a subsidiary of Kattra Group that handles fresh table grapes for the parent company. In that capacity, Global Agrisystem grows about 140 containers - worth of table grapes every season and works with exporters to send that to Europe. The season gets underway around mid-February, and by the time the grapes make their 21-day journey from India the Europe, they find a very receptive market there.

“India is lucky in that it has a window of time in Europe when there is no competition,” said SK. “It's around May that Chile stops with its shipments, and that's when Indian grapes arrive. By the time the grapes reach their destination, prices are high relative to what's offered in India.” This has many companies consolidating into larger exporters and investing heavily in export operations. Global Agrisystem used to export their grapes on their own, but the economies of scale and marketing strength of larger companies drove Global Agrisystem to work with larger exporters.

“It's also good if international companies make investments in Indian producers,” said SK. “Generally, European buyers have trouble tying up with Indian producers, but if there is commitment and investment here, then it will work.”

Production has improved with the adoption of international certifications like GlobalG.A.P., and the Thompson grapes grown in Sangli and Nasit have been of excellent quality. There was some rain that hit fields recently, but SK expects no significant damage to the grapes.

Carrots

In addition to increased investment in grape exports, Indian shippers are investing more in cold storage for the country's carrot production. Winter production is usually sold fresh, and the low prices for that supply of carrots means most people in India can buy carrots. But come spring, handlers switch to storage stock. That requires refrigeration and increased logistics management, so prices are higher and consumption is largely limited to the catering, food service and more affluent consumers in large urban centers.

“Red carrots are the ones that are most in demand in India, and those are the ones with the shortest shelf life,” explained SK. “Demand for them has been growing at a fast pace, at around 10 to 12 percent growth every year.”
 
 
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