India, the top producer of papaya with an overwhelming 38.6% contribution in the global market from 2008-2010, surprisingly, lags behind from its major producing counterparts in terms of exportation of the fruit. Tulfi Lunagariya, Director of Adventa Export Private Limited, said that papaya has been a very lucrative business but the price being offered in the international market and the growing demand locally, has prompted them to focus on local consumers.
"Our market is mostly working class, and 60% of our population is aged between 25-35. As their level of income increases, so does their choice of food as they opt for healthier and much fresher options. More often than not these consumers include Papaya in their breakfast, especially in winter, between October to March, wherein the demand is high as people tend to stay indoors to consume the fruit as part of their meal,” he reiterated.
When asked about the current market trend and challenges, Lunagariya retorted, "3-5 years ago, papaya production was 50% less than today. The uptrend was due to the increasing purchasing power of the people and the growing popularity of a healthy lifestyle. Our main challenge is when the fruit is off-season, especially when the food processing companies halt orders from us. As the demand drops the price also drops to the point that we can no longer realize a particular price in the market, but overall the business is doing good.”
Currently the two varieties of the fruit commonly produced are the imported Taiwan variety and the local Honey dew. The latter has been the top choice as it is sweeter than the former. In comparing papaya to other fruit, he said,”It cannot be compared to banana for instance, in terms of demand and production, I must say that the share of papaya is only 20% and it would be a long way to overtake the banana production to be the number one fruit in the country. What is a good thing though, is that papaya can be grown in almost any typical soil and is highly tolerant to any weather conditions unlike other crops."
“I cannot say how the papaya market will grow globally as it depends on international prices and other economic factors, besides papaya can be grown in any country but what I can assure you though is that demand in India will be growing in the following years.”
