The season for fresh figs has started in India, and it’s looking to be a promising season. Weather has been favorable and the figs have had plenty of rain to work with. Overall it should be a better season, as last year the season was cut short due to the pandemic.
Sam Agri, an exporter of fresh produce and fresh pomegranate arils from India, has been involved in trials of various fig varieties, growing and exporting of fresh figs from India for the last seven years. According to Mr GVK Naidu, managing director of Sam Agri Group, the company has found a niche in the export of fresh figs: “Since 2016, Sam Agri has been exporting commercial shipments of Figs to the UK, Europe, Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore and other Asian markets. Over the last three years, Sam Agri has established a niche in the export of fresh figs and is the only exporter exporting figs from India to multiple markets consistently.”
Although the fresh figs are a niche product, Sam Agri has established itself well thanks to cooperation with Israeli expert growers, says Naidu. “We have a fig growing area of over 150 acres in South India, which are GAP certified, from where the fruit is available for exports from January through June. With a lot of trials and consultations with expert growers from Israel, the growing protocols and practices are established to comply with the strict residue level norms of the European market. The Indian season complements the Mediterranean season ensuring continuous availability for the customers.”
The exported variety is called Brown Turkey, and weather has been favorable this season, Naidu says: “Our fig-packaging includes 160g punnet packing and bulk 1 kg trays, depending on customer requirements. Different size counts are available for both punnet and tray packs. The Brown Turkey figs are sweet, delicious and have red to purplish skin with a toned pink flesh. With a shelf life of over 12 days, the figs have gained wide market acceptance. Our fig growing regions have received good rains this year and thanks to favorable weather conditions, we’re expecting good consistent yields and the outlook looks better than it did last year, where the season was cut short due to Covid-related lockdowns.”
“We have started our shipments to Europe from third week of Jan and we are seeing good response and enquiries from other markets as well even in the light of covid related lockdowns. Air freight and connectivity are still a challenge but we hope things improve over the next couple of months easing out the logistical issues.” added Mr David Levin, Marketing Director overseeing International sales at Sam Agri.
For more information:
Mr GVK Naidu
SamAgri
Tel: +91 98480 25196
Email: info@samagri.com
www.samagri.com
Mr David Levin
SamAgri
Tel: +972 52 369 1333