India's increasingly health conscious consumer base has encouraged Mumbai-based importer IG International and leading North American pipfruit supplier Stemilt Growers to ship organic apples from the US to the South Asian nation.
After bananas, apples are the most consumed fruits in India, with an estimated 2.24m tonnes of the fruit consumed in MY2017/18, up from 2.23m tonnes the previous year.
With IG International suggesting organic fruit constitutes 52 per cent of total organic food products consumed in India, the opportunity to grow market share for Stemilt's offering, branded under the Artisan Organic label, appears plentiful.
'With the launch of organic apples, were placing further emphasis on the importance of healthy eating and want to convey that fruits are the best snacks,' said Tarun Arora, director of IG International.
'Organic fruits have picked interest from fruit lovers in the country and by launching the best of organic apples, we have delivered what the consumers want. Our collaboration with Stemilt has been a grand success and enabled us to bring a variety of fruits to the consumers in India so far.'
Stemilt are one of the largest grower-packer-shippers of organic apples, pears, and cherries in the US Northwest region.
'Organic apples are a very popular offering from us and we are proud to bring it to Indian consumers,' said William Young, senior export account manager at Stemilt Growers.
'Like many other countries, India has emerged as a sizeable market for organic produce and we are working towards satisfying the growing demand.'
