Juicy treats
Good things come in bunches, says Sumit Saran - as he
talks about California grapes and their Indian adventure
If the business mantra of the last century
was 'If we could only sell it to China,'
then for this century it has definitely been
modified to add, 'if we could sell to India as
well.' With a population of over a billion and
a middle class segment that is bigger than the
combined population of many nations, India is
certainly a market that has caught the
attention of the agribusiness community world
over, especially after the removal of
quantitative restrictions (QRs) on imports of
most agricultural produce in 2001. Lifting of
QRs has meant that the Indian palate that
had hitherto only consisted of the seasonal
produce, is now including counter seasonal
fresh produce coming in from other countries.
Putting a numerical value to this
opportunity is almost impossible, but experts
say that the opportunities here are as big as
they can get. A number of products have
started to establish their presence in the
country and one of the most noticeable
among them are fresh California grapes.
Market share
Of the total imported grapes in India,
California grapes enjoy a market share of
nearly 70 per cent and in only four years'
time, our country has become one of the
top 15 markets for the fresh California
grape industry. This is when supplies are
still concentrated in the larger markets of
Class 'A' cities. The volumes are expected
to further increase with geographical
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