Opportunities for European apples on the Indian market

India lacks a market supply of high quality apples. The apples in storage are generally of inferior quality. This makes room on the market for more expensive imported apples and provides opportunities for import companies. 

“Apples are being imported from the US, Chile, New Zealand, Iran, Turkey and Europe,” says Sanjay Shah of the Indian company Adani Agrifresh. “We’ve got the capacity to keep over 26,000 tons of apples in controlled atmosphere storage. After buying apples and storing them for about 7-8 months we sell them in domestic markets in wholesale packs of 20 kg, retail packs of 9-12 kg and consumer packs of 4 and 6 pieces per punnet or polypack.”

According to Sanjay, around this time of the year varieties like Red Delicious are becoming more prevalent than others, as they are more similar to Indian Royal delicious apples. “Right now they (domestic Royal delicious apples of Kashmir / Himachal) are cheaper than Washington apples.

However, some countries are currently banned from exporting apples to India. There is still room for Washington apples in the south of India, as the season has only just started. Prices are a little higher right now compared to last season, but these are expected to go down.”

The export volumes from European apple growers may decrease significantly due to their smaller production. A ban on the import of apples and pears from China by the Government of India may provide scope for Washington and other countries' apples to fill the space. A similar scenario took place last year with regards to Polish apples. 

Since then, Poland and India have agreed to a proper protocol which granted market access to Polish apples. Something similar may yet happen for Serbian apples on the Indian market. However, imports from Europe in general have become a viable alternative to the current poor quality of the Indian apple production, even if European apples are more expensive.

“It’s not that the entire domestic production is bad, but a majority of the crop is lower in quality than CA storage standards. This does give a good opportunity for imported apples. For instance, Iranian apples having good color & high sugar content, and they're less expensive and may be imported to India , although this also means the quality goes down in the later stages. We’re going to clear our storage by April, after which will have more room for Washington apples,” says Sanjay.

Apart from the import of fresh produce, Adani Agrifresh is also looking for its own production campaigns. The company is currently planning the production of pomegranates in Gujarat and soon, the company aims to enter the global market for pomegranates.

For more information:

Email: Sanjay.Shah2@adani.com