SL’s avocado, passion fruit exporters: To connect with high-end supermarkets Mumbai
24 Feb 2021
SL’s avocado, passion fruit exporters: To connect with high-end supermarkets Mumbai
24 Feb 2021
Via virtual B2B meetings
The Sri Lanka Consulate General in Mumbai, together with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), successfully connected Sri Lankan fresh fruit exporters (avocado and passion fruit) with high-end supermarkets in Mumbai through virtual (business-to-business) B2B meetings on 11 February 2021. This was a follow up discussion on the programme launched by the Consulate in September 2020 to promote and diversify Sri Lanka’s agri products to the Indian market in line with the Government’s Export Economic Policy. Twenty online B2B meetings took place between five leading fruit and vegetable exporters from Sri Lanka; namely, CR Exports (Pvt.) Ltd., Development Interplan Ceylon (Pvt.) Ltd., Forbes & Walker Fine Foods (Pvt.) Ltd., HJS Condiments (Pvt.) Ltd., Jagro (Pvt.) Ltd., and three high-end supermarket chains in India; Nature’s Basket, More Retail, and Star Bazaar; and East West Agro, which is a Mumbai-based fresh fruit importer. The supermarket chains represented at the meetings are high-end consumer product outlets with a reach all over India. Nature’s Basket, which is owned by reputed conglomerate RPSG Group, has over 36 neighbourhood convenience stores in Mumbai, Pune, and Bangalore, with a diverse product portfolio. Star Market, a joint venture by Tata and Tesco companies, is present across 48 stores in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Kolhapur, and Hyderabad. More Retail, which is the fourth largest supermarket chain in India, is owned by Amazon and Samara Capital (Pvt.) Ltd. More Retail offers two types of stores – hypermarts and supermarkets. The company has 22 hypermarts spreading across New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Thane and operates 651 supermarkets all over India. East West Agro is a Mumbai-based fresh fruit importer which has been engaged in agro product trade for more than a decade. Both Indian and Sri Lankan participants appreciated the joint effort, especially during the prevailing Covid-19 situation, to stimulate more business taking place between the two neighbouring countries. Given the close proximity and unique duty concessions offered to Sri Lanka for agri products under the Indo-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA), Sri Lanka is well positioned to utilise this untapped export potential. In addition to avocado and passion fruit, the Sri Lankan companies have received inquiries on the possibility of exporting other products such as mangoes (during the off season in India), rambutan, and soursop from Sri Lanka. India imports avocados from Latin America and Europe, and passion fruit is imported from South Africa, as the local supply of avocado and passion fruit are not sufficient to fulfill the local demand.
