The stonefruit import season will start soon for the Indian company Peregrine Foods, which brings most of its fruit from Europe and South America. According to Joint-Managing Director Mr Sharukh Kumar, "At the moment, our biggest suppliers are based in Europe, which supplies Napoleon cherry. We are really looking forward to the season, as this cherry is considered exotic in the Indian market. It is a cherry that Indian consumers (who now have a higher purchasing power) relish, and with the expansion of large retailers, like Walmart, there has been a greater focus on this type of quality.”
Peregrine Foods™ is dedicated to provide Indian consumers with exotic fruits and vegetables from all over the world. Peregrine Foods™ positions themselves as providers of exotics with focus on high quality, affordability, awareness and convenience for their consumers.
This increased interest in quality is also one of the consequences of an issue that the country urgently needs to tackle: the lack of cold storage facilities. "Currently, 40% of fruit and vegetables are wasted in the post-harvest, taking a toll on the freshness and quality. A lot of Indians have responded by switching to the organic trend and high quality imports.”
To capitalize on this trend, Kumar explains that Peregrine Foods is in the process of launching an on-line platform which will get the product to the consumers directly. "These are consumers who care about the quality and the freshness of the products and are willing to purchase it at a premium. We’ll be selling the cherries in 1 kg boxes, as per last years demands, but on-line we’ll also offer smaller packaging, depending on what the customer requires.”
Overall, he also believes that the Russian ban on European produce will actually be a blessing in disguise for India, because they needed to find different markets and this will offer them a chance to capture some of those volumes.
