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INDIAN BANANA EXPORT

An Indian banana variety, Nanjangud Bale has been patented under the Geographical Indication (GI) status granted to local communities to patent unique naturally occurring and processed foods, flowers and vegetables. This means the Nanjangud Bale will enjoy the same status as Scotch whisky in world markets should it be exported.The banana variety is grown in the sub-tropical region of south India in Karnataka state and is famous in the region for its flavour and taste.The Karnataka state Horticulture Department took the initiative to patent Nanjungud bale along with several varieties of flowers, local media reports quoted its director K. Ramappa as saying during the course of a workshop.

India is not known as a banana exporter despite producing nearly 20% of the world’s banana production. Some initiatives have been taken to export Indian bananas but the exported quantity is minuscule.Though bananas are grown in almost all parts of India, their vary in size, taste, thickness of the peal from place to place. Those grown in south India such as the Nanjungud bale and a specific large size variety grown in Kerala state are among the more popular ones. However, lack of cold storage facilities mean they are not sold in different parts of India and hardly exported

Maersk India Pvt Ltd, the Indian subsidary of the Dutch container giant, has plans to export banana from India, which produces 23% of the global banana production but which has negligible exports.

The steps being undertaken include facilitating research in banana production, harvesting, warehousing, packaging and providing end-to-end logistics support, in addition to arranging for training to local exporters in cold chain management and marketing support in foreign countries, a business newspaper said quoting Maersk India sources. India produces about 23 per cent of the world’s production of 48.9 million tones but is hardly present in the global banana trade of about 14 MT, worth about $4.7 billion. In comparison, Ecuador accounts for 30 per cent of the world banana trade. Maersk’s refrigerated container initiative, that started in India six months ago, has helped banana exporters in Gujarat and TamilNadu undertake trial shipments to the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Major fresh vegetables exporters like Bharti’s FieldFresh and Reliance have made a lot of marketing efforts to place their produce directly in stores in the EU, UK and US, thus saving also on agency costs. That is a success story and very welcome. Reliance Fresh, for example, was reported to sell mangoes at the Harrods warehouse in London for over Rs 700 a kg, whereas the domestic price is just Rs 20. The 700 Rs are approximately 12.7 Euros, approximately double the retail price for mangoes in Germany, depending on the season. The media report was not very specific, but it seems that the quoted price is the retail price in London, not the cif-price the India exporter receives. Such an information might lead very easily to a wrong perception of international prices and costs involved. The foreign consumer has to pay for the whole value chain which brings the fruits he buys from India the long way to the retailer store. With the price he pays, he has to cover farming costs in India, export marketing costs, transport – probably in a cool container -, storage, distribution, handling, and a small share of the high rent costs of the retail shop in a place like London where he – the consumer – buys his mango at the end.