A 30 per cent tariff on New Zealand kiwifruit imports is preventing the single-desk marketer Zespri from developing the Indian market at a more rapid rate, according to the company’s regional manager for India, Ben Hughes.
Zespri’s sales to the South Asian market increased by 60 per cent in volume and 70 per cent in revenue over the 2014 season, with the value of the trade now estimated at over NZ$8.3m (A$6.3m) per year. Hughes attributed this growth to a rising level of consumer awareness in India, although he said kiwifruit remains somewhat of an unknown quantity across the country.
“We did some research last year and showed upper and middle-class Indians a picture of kiwifruit and asked them what it was,” Hughes told Fairfax Media. “Only 36 per cent said they knew it, now this year 50 per cent know what it is.”
Hughes said the high tariff rate could limit opportunities to ramp-up Indian export programmes further, particularly after rival Southern Hemisphere exporter Chile signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Asian nation. The FTA is likely to see the duty on Chilean fruit drop from 30 per cent to zero.
“'It will certainly make it that much more difficult for us to develop the market if Chilean kiwifruit have a 30 per cent duty advantage on us,” he said.
Hughes also heads-up Zespri’s operations in the Middle East, another market Zespri has seen substantial growth within over the last 12 months. The company introduced its Zespri SunGold variety to its customers in the Middle East in 2014, while also re-entering the Saudi Arabian (KSA) market after a five-year hiatus.
“The UAE and KSA are by far the largest markets in the region, mainly due to the high levels of GDP per capita and the large expat populations in both markets,” Yousef Almawy, Zespri’s Middle East market development manager, told Adsiafruit. “Kuwait is on of our fastest-growing markets in the area, but we’re very excited to say that all GCC markets have great growth potential and high levels of fruit consumption. Our main objective is to grow the kiwifruit category and move kiwifruit into the top 10 most-consumed fruit in the Middle East.”
