India has grown rapidly over recent years to become Asia’s largest apple import market. Apple imports have doubled since 2010 to reach almost 200,000 tonnes, making India one of the world’s top ten markets.
While demand is heavily dominated by Red Delicious, good opportunities exist to develop the Indian market for other apple varieties.
A selection of newer generation club varieties and apple brands will come under the spotlight at Fresh Produce India, India’s fresh fruit and vegetable convention event, which takes place on 27-28 April in Mumbai.
In the workshop session ‘Apple brands: what’s in store?’ delegates will get a first-hand insight to the global strategy for the Modi apple from developers and owners of the variety Consorzio Italiano Vivaisti (CIV).
Pier Filippo Tagliani, chairman of CIV, and marketing director Dario Mauro Lezzerio, will discuss the origins of the Modi variety, their global production and marketing plans, and the potential to develop the Modi brand in India through local production and imports.
With its deep red colour and unique taste, Modi is considered to have good commercial potential in India.
The session on new apple varieties is one of a programme of six special workshops taking place at Fresh Produce India.
In another workshop – ‘Food service focus’ – Pratik Shevade, sales manager for Euromonitor in India, will deliver a detailed analysis of India’s consumer food service industry, highlighting the opportunities for fresh produce marketers. He will be joined on the session by leading industry practitioners as well as fresh produce companies targeting the food service sector.
Fresh Produce India’s convention-style format kicks off each morning with a plenary conference session addressing the headline issues in the Indian business. Day One’s plenary conference session ‘Future consumer, future trends’ focuses on the big consumer trends to look out for in India. Day Two’s plenary session ‘Seeing the value’ examines why India’s fresh produce business is reluctant to adopt the value-added products and solutions at its disposal, and asks how industry mindsets can be changed.
After the morning plenaries, Fresh Produce India Expo opens, showcasing a range of products and services. Delegates get ample time to meet and do business at the exhibition. Running alongside the expo is a programme of special workshop sessions covering a wide range of subjects. Other workshops focus on: the power of packaging; introducing new varieties to India’s table grape industry; export opportunities for India in Russia and the Baltics; and the growth of India’s fresh fruit import market beyond apples.
