Thai fruit firm eyes India

The country's fruits and vegetables retail segment has caught up the fancy of international companies even as domestic companies such as Bharti and the Tatas tie up with global firms for supply of farm produce.

Best Fruit Company, a Thailand-based fruit exporter, which currently supplies to Reliance Retail, is scouting for a joint venture partner here to enter the fresh fruit supply chain.

The $40-million company exports fruits such as logan, lychee, sweet tamarind, sweet mandarin and ginger to 15 countries.

J Theerachai, managing director, Best Fruit Company, said, "A robust Indian economy and increasing spending power of the consumers are offering healthy business opportunities in India. We are looking for a good local partner to supply our products to the country's retailers as the market is expected to fetch volumes."

Since May this year, it has started supplying logans to Reliance Fresh, which has over 150 stores. "Initially, we supplied 20 containers of logans to Reliance. We estimate India to account for about 5 per cent of our business within the first year of operations and expect it to grow to 20 per cent by the second year," said Theerachai.

Engaged in contract farming, the company procures 300 tonnes of fruits daily from farmers. It produces 1,000 containers (of 20 tonnes each) of fruits annually. The company exports 50 per cent of its produce to China.

The other primary markets for the company are Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Theerachai said, with the India foray, the two Asian giants (Chine and India) would constitute about 70 per cent of the company's export market.

In recent times, Bharti Enterprises has entered into a partnership with UK-based Rothschild to procure farm produce. Earlier this year, Tata Chemicals had a joint venture with Total Produce, Europe's largest fresh produce company, to source and supply farm products to supermarkets and organised retailers.

Meanwhile, Mahindra and Mahindra is reportedly in talks with a European fresh produce supply chain and distribution company to set up a supply joint venture to cater to international and domestic markets.

Fresh fruits and vegetables form about 8 per cent of a hypermarket sale.