Sweetness/ Sugar content is an overwhelmingly important criterion for consumer acceptance of all fresh fruits in India. The variety/ harvesting maturity selection for exports to India should keep this aspect in mind.
The Supermarket culture in India is in the initial stage of development. The market is still dominated by subsistence scale small retailers.
The imported fruits in India are typically sought by higher income group consumers. These sets of consumers typically have international exposure. It would therefore be unwise to expect these consumers to accept anything other than the best quality produce that is globally available.
In volume terms, the Indian market presently lacks depth for the imported produce. It would be unreasonable therefore to expect large volume throughputs in the immediate future. Indian market is hence suitable for suppliers with long-term vision.
The suppliers are advised to stuff typically two/three different brands/ marks in a container. This helps us in marketing the individual brands to large buyers like supermarkets on exclusive basis. The branding should be done in prior consultation with Euro Fruits.
The suppliers are also advised to pack/ courier maximum possible quantity of promotional material like pamphlets, danglers, caps, nominal value gift items etc. The distribution of such promotional material at the point of sale in wholesale and retail markets becomes to a big pull factor for buyers, who are typically subsistence level tiny scale street retailers.
On receipt of the container, Euro Fruits would provide the preliminary report of quality, quantity received etc. From the port, the container is transported to the cold storage. The material is stored in cold stores in un-palletized form, with cartons stacked in layers.
Post arrival at the cold storage, the produce is handled in un-palletized form with individual cartons are stored, traded and transported. The cartons have therefore to be strong enough to withstand the wear and tear during transportation in ambient conditions. Further the carton design/ logo/ color scheme should be sufficiently attractive and eye catching.
Attractive looking stickers should be placed on every fruit. Indian's recognize the imported produce by stickers on them.
Certain unique produce specific characteristics are very important in the Indian context. As stated earlier, sweetness in an over boringly important factor. For apples for instances, full red color is very important. Green skin apple is considered raw apple! Pears need to crispy and crunchy. These issues should be specifically discussed with Euro Fruits, prior to packing.
Euro Fruits intends to keep our global associates informed about the developments in Indian produce markets – with particular reference pricing at wholesale markets, imported produce quantity arrivals, pack sizes, competitive overseas brands etc. on a periodical basis.
