Renowned Italian fruit breeder Consorzio Italiano Vivaisti (CIV) has signed a landmark commercial agreement with Mumbai-based company IG International to develop sales of its licensed club apple variety Modì on the Indian market.
The three-year deal, which was signed by CIV chairman Pier Filippo Tagliani and IG International director Tarun Arora, is expected to involve the development of a number of Italian-grown varieties deemed by the partners as “potentially suitable” for local consumption.
CIV will evaluate and identify commercial partnerships with some of the country’s main local importers and distributors, before evaluating the possibility of local production tests.
As Tagliani emphasised during last year’s Fresh Produce India event in Mumbai, developing the Indian market and building demand in Asia as a whole is at the core of CIV’s strategic approach to growing sales of Modì-branded apples.
Although the volume of Italian apples sold in India remains small in comparison to the amount imported from China and the US, the group says it sees excellent potential for its Italian supply.
The international Modì project already has an extensive network of international licensees producing and marketing the trademarked fruit in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
It has also set a target of approximately 1,000ha of production, based in part on promising development opportunities expected in Asia, and especially in India.
“Today we are particularly confident about the results of the agreement between CIV and IG International which, as an officially authorized Modì distributor, will help us gradually reach our shared goal of appropriately positioning the apple and developing it in the Indian market through the main distribution channels of retail, normal trade and HoReCa,” said Tagliani.
IG International has already established a strong and consolidated fresh produce procurement and handling business, handling over 31 varieties of fruit from 22 countries in order to meet a sizeable range of tastes across India.
“No-one understands fresh produce import-export like IG International does,” Arora commented. “With over half a century of experience and expertise in delivering fresh produce with minimal wastage to our customers, we at IGI have positioned ourselves as the top choice for suppliers of fruits in the international market.”
