Indian grape sector ready for new season

It has been six years since MRLs were found on Indian grapes. The batch concerned was small, but since then companies from this country feel as if they still sometimes have to prove themselves. “Cultivating grapes is a passion for us and we continue to invest in ensuring we always deliver the best quality,” says Ravikiran Dange from Monsoon Foods. “The season will start again at the beginning of 2017, and we are ready.”

Monsoon Foods, from Nashik, India, was at the Amsterdam Produce Show at the beginning of November. The company has been exporting for almost ten years already, and they especially trade and produce grapes. They have one part own production, and additionally they have about 250 cultivators who are members of Monsoon Foods. These have partly been Fairtrade certified. They are currently busy with the preparations for the new season. “We offer conventional and Fairtrade grapes. From week six, green and black grapes will be available for export. The red grapes only last for a few weeks. The Fairtrade harvest will start slightly later than the conventional one, the first ones will arrive around week eight.” The products are gathered and collected in Monsoon Foods’ packing location. 

Monsoon Foods exports directly to its buyers. “Our most important customers are supermarket chains in Germany, the UK and Switzerland. There, we supply the most important retail chains.” Those countries have strict requirements. “That is why we are in close contact with our cultivators, and they produce according to European conditions. We are given clear instructions, and besides, we have regular inspections. We invest much time and money in quality and food safety. That is sometimes difficult to realise, because we have many cultivators with a small area. The 250 cultivators who are connected to Monsoon Foods each has, on average, between two and ten hectares of grapes. The Fairtrade area is about 45 hectares, and between 400 and 450 hectares are for the conventional cultivation of grapes. We see a rising line in the number of Fairtrade cultivators, and we expect this will increase further in future.”

Monsoon Foods started an initiative for sustainable cultivation. “Most of our cultivators only have a small area, and Fairtrade ensures certainty in sales and prices. This helps smaller cultivators to invest in better cultivation techniques and sustainability.”