Imported apple sales in India are slow so far this season. An anticipated apple shortage due to the continuing China ban has failed to materialise thanks to abundant domestic supplies flooding the market, say traders.
Cheap Indian apples coming out of the country’s coldstores is squeezing demand for higher-priced fruit, according to A Strinivasa Ramanujam, business head at large-scale Gujarat-based apple distributor and coldstore operator Adani Agrifresh Ltd.
Meanwhile, large volumes - some 200,000 tonnes - of good-quality controlled-atmosphere (CA)-stored domestic apples are also available to Indian consumers, which will continue to put pressure on imported apple demand until at least mid-June, Ramanujam says.
India’s traders had expected a dynamic apple market this season: one characterised by limited volumes, strong demand and high prices, since Chinese apples remain suspended since May 2017 due to recurrent pest detections, and European volumes are frost depleted.
As a result, importers had predicted a stellar year for Washington Red Delicious, as well as robust sales of Iranian and Turkish varieties – relative newcomers to the market. But such forecasts are yet to come true, according to some players.
“While the arrival of Washington apples is more than last year, its sales are also slow,” says Ramanujam. “Washington apples are competing against domestic apples stored in CA stores. Iranian apples, meanwhile, are competing with the domestic apples stored in coldstores.”
Parth Karvat of Mumbai-based importer Yupaa, agrees: “The market has been flat and unexciting in spite of the lack of Chinese apples and negligible supplies of EU apples,” he tells Fruitnet. “The major factor for this being the huge crop of Kashmir apples and plenty of local Reds available at different price levels. Though Washington, Turkey and Iranian apples are currently profitable, it may not continue this way for very long as the mango season is near and apple sales slow down during the mango season in many parts of the country.'
Gagan Khosla, managing director of Delhi-based NGK Trading, echoes this sentiment: “The current market is stable but sales are slow,” he says. “Compared to a normal season I feel net sales are down 20 per cent.”
Read the full report in Asiafruit Magazine's March issue.
