Not nuts for nothing

FOOD: Hazelnuts have been rare in India, but this anomaly is in for a big correction anytime now.

Ever wonder why global chocolate companies that sell the most delectable hazelnut chocolates across the world have been giving India the go by?

It's because of the simple reason that hazelnuts has been difficult, if not impossible, to source. The item was simply not listed as part of India's Plant Quarantine Order which allows the import of plant food.

Fortunately for chocolate lovers in India, import restrictions have been eased, and the world's leading exporter of this premium nut, Turkey, has an aggressive marketing plan for it in India.

If Sumit Saran's optimism comes good, the Indian consumer will soon be feasting on hazelnut chocolates, hazelnut ice-cream, hazelnut desserts, hazelnut coffee and hazelnut anything else imaginable "" and through regular mass market consumption and purchase channels as well.

As vice-president of the SCS Group, an agri-business consultancy, Saran represents the Turkish Hazelnuts Promotion Group in India, and is committed to the popularisation of this little understood nut in the country.

The latent demand is obvious to him. Says Saran, "Our dip-stick survey before launching this campaign indicated that Ferrero Roche chocolates, which have hazelnuts as a principal ingredient, was among the top three products being bought at duty free shops after liquor and wine. So our endeavour is to ensure that all these big chocolate companies which are supplying hazelnut chocolates to the world start using it for the domestic market as well."

It is towards this objective that the SCS group claims to have showcased Turkish hazelnuts for the first time at Ahaar 2006, a food fair that has just begun at Pragati Maidan in Delhi.

"India is a good market," says the Turkish ambassador to India, Halil Akinci, who unveiled these nuts along with Subodh Kant Sahay, Union minister of state for food processing industries, at Ahaar, on Wednesday: "Indians consume all sorts of nuts, so we thought why not diversify their consumption and include hazelnuts as well."

Incidentally, Turkey accounts for 76 per cent of total world hazelnut production and 80 per cent of world exports. "We sell about $1.5 billion of hazelnuts to Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, among countries. For the first time now, India is on our radar as far as hazelnuts is concerned," informs the Turkish ambassador.

Meanwhile, Saran seems to have chalked out his strategy well. Having slotted the market three ways "" the ingredient segment for the confectionery industry (chocolate, ice-cream and bakery), the direct consumption dry fruit basket, and the direct consumption healthy snacking segment "" he has adopted a multi-pronged strategy of targeting the wholesaler, working with the retailer, and tying up with institutional users such as chocolate companies. Apart from this, he intends running a wider hazelnut awareness campaign.

"We're in the final stages of talks with all the leading ice-cream and chocolate manufacturers. We've already tied up with some dry fruit wholesalers so this Diwali, you will certainly see hazelnuts being included in the dry fruits packets," says Saran, confidently.

However, at Rs 850-900 a kg, hazelnuts would certainly be the most expensive dry fruit available in India. But that does not worry Saran.

The target audience comprises rich Indians, and consumption trends across the country suggest that at least 1.5 million wealthy households in India are now beyond price sensitivity in the traditional sense.

Interestingly, Saran had roped in the celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor to demonstrate to Indian restaurateurs and chocolatiers the multiple uses of hazelnuts at the Upper Crust Show in Mumbai last year. SCS is now looking at a formal tie-up with Kapoor's Khana Khazana.

Hazelnut, says Saran, is globally the biggest chocolate ingredient in the world. To his mind, there's "no reason why it'll not work in India".