With Canada opening up its borders to allow Indian fruits and vegetables to tap into its markets – including banana, mango, pomegranate, custard apple and okra – while there may be a market in some pockets of the country, it will require a lot of forethought on the part of individual companies regarding actual feasibility.
Some don’t see a market specifically for Indian produce at this point. Yes, produce is seasonal and depending on what you’re looking to carry if you want a year-round supply the key is to source from different suppliers in different countries. Using mango as an example, Julie Sage, who manages the certified organic/Fair Trade direct import program at Discovery Organics explains that the seasonality and availability for year-round mango supply begins in Peru, then Mexico (maybe California and Brazil), then Ecuador and the cycle begins again. “If you want to have Indian mangoes it’s probably possible – I’m sure there are great varieties and supply – but you need to consider freight and logistics,” she says. “Suddenly it looks a lot more complicated to bring to your location. One of the main reasons is because they need to be flown in.”
Even having done a test freight schedule through their logistics company for comparison, she says from India to Vancouver it would take about 58 days to arrive. By the time they arrive, plus adding additional time for inspections, “by the time you get your mangoes they might be good enough to dump. So that’s a huge risk. I’m not saying there’s no potential but it is something to factor in to make a decision. That’s crucial part of the equation.” While Vancouver – and other parts of the country – have large Indian communities, Sage says it could be a good move but on a small scale. “I think at this point it would be a bit of a niche but you never know. Avocados used to be niche ten years ago. Not anymore.”
Factoring in pricing to make the market worthwhile (which would include all of the landing costs) to make it a viable market is also something to be decided. “I would personally be interested to know what’s available but considering it’s fresh, perishable product, India represents a risk for the produce industry geographically speaking,” Sage says. “If there’s a window for Indian mangoes when there’s nothing on the market then you can afford to fly them in and still be competitive. I’m not saying there’s no hope.”
Discovery organics is working to bring more exotics into Canada from around the globe, which works well in the winter when there’s no local production but they’re also conscious of local production and sourcing locally as much as possible. “Our goal is also to help smaller, remote retailers to have a widespread range of produce and offer their costumers healthy selections of produce.” Bringing something a bit niche like grenedia (variety of passion fruit) is an interesting thing in February and March when there’s not a lot on the market. “We’re always open to new things but it has to be well thought out because you always take a risk.”
For more information:
Julie Sage
Discovery Organics
Ph: 604-299-1684