Coffs Coast grown blueberries are now being stocked in Indian grocery stores, strengthening local returns from Australia's fifth largest agricultural export market.
Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam (KPN) Group, established in 1965 and serving 30,000 customers a day, is the first importer of Australian blueberries into southern India.
Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Luke Hartsuyker today welcomed the start of exports, following his recent trip to the sub-continent as part of Australian Business Week in India.
"Exports of blueberries will further increase the value of this market to Australia."
At the industry's request, the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources successfully negotiated market access for blueberries to India in September 2015.
Oz Group Co-op chairman Gurmesh Singh said the local industry has been looking to open new markets in Asia for the last couple of years.
"The Indian market has the potential to be a really big market for the Australian blueberry industry," Mr Singh said.
"Other fruits have shown that the Indian market takes really well to new crops and we hope that within the next decade that blueberries will be a staple in the Indian diet."
Source: coffscoastadvocate.com.au
