Consumers in West Asia appear to have taken a liking for bananas from India. Though India recorded a 45 per cent jump in banana exports in 2013-14, and Qatar, Saudi Arab, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait were among the top export destinations, exporters insist much more needs to be done to jump-start the fledgling business.
A fresh produce company, Pick N Serve Foods, recently started exporting its branded bananas to Oman, Dubai, Qatar and Kuwait, and ships around 10-15 containers per week.
“India produces 30 per cent of the world’s banana, but export is negligible, at less than 1 per cent,” points out Subrata Mondal, CEO, Pick N Serve Foods. “Other countries such as the Philippines and Ecuador, that were earlier ranked 8 and 10 respectively in production, have shot ahead and are currently the top exporters. Moreover, India’s post-harvest facilities are still in their infancy, especially as there is poor cold chain infrastructure,” he said.
Stating that there was a huge opportunity in banana exports from India, Mondal pointed out that since the fruit was available 365 days of the year, it could be exported quickly to its export destinations, “because it takes 3-12 days to reach any export destination,” all of which made for a perfect recipe for Indian exporters.
Affinity to the West Asian markets has offered a huge opportunity for Indian exporters to boost their banana consignments to the region. The potential is huge, contends Mondal. “Iran imports 2,500 containers of banana every month from across the world. From India, it takes just 40 containers a month, though five months ago it was less than 10 containers. Each container contains 20 tonnes (20,000 kg) valued at ₹8 lakh,” he said.
Currently, some 150 containers stacked with bananas are shipped from India per month to markets in the West Asia. With 1,800 containers per year, Mondal says the market is around ₹150-200 crore.
Huge exports According to export numbers released by Apeda, India exported 65,844 tonnes of bananas in 2013-14 against 45,573.23 tonnes in the previous financial year. Though exports to West Asia were high, even UK and France consume Indian bananas.
India exported 62,799 kg of bananas valued at ₹28.90 lakh to Qatar in 2012-13, and exports to Saudi Arabia were pegged at 32,740 kg valued at ₹17.55 lakh, the same year. Apeda data showed that India exported 15,307 kg to the UK valued at ₹9.01 lakh in 2012-13, and France took some 5,957 kg of bananas from India valued at ₹6 lakh.
IG International, an exporter and importer of fresh fruits, has decided it wants a large share of the pie, and is to export bananas to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. The Delhi-based company is aiming at banana exports worth ₹60 crore over the next few years. The company’s first consignment of bananas was shipped to West Asia early this month.
Tarun Arora, Director, IG International, pointed out that exports of table bananas from India could not rise above a certain stage since many other nations, notably the Philippines, could easily supply the fruit in large quantities at cheaper rates.
Branded plantains Branded bananas seem to have fond favour in Western Asia. While IG International has launched ‘Rich Bananas’ in the Middle East, and Arora says the company uses ethylene absorbers to ensure quality, Pick N Serve has introduced two new banana brands – ‘IndoFresh’ and ‘PickFresh’ for the Gulf market.
The company has innovated a concept called ‘field packing’ by which the bananas are harvested, sorted, graded, washed and packed in the field, making the bananas less susceptible to damage.