Avocados Australia CEO John Tyas is in India this week, as part of a Hort Innovation industry visit, arranged with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, and he believes there are opportunities for the industry.

He says:

This market visit is providing Australian fruit industries with important in-country experiences. The Indian market has a lot of potential with a large population, and a high percentage of younger consumers looking for healthy options, including fresh fruit.

The market in India is very diverse, from street carts to high-end department stores. It is also very price sensitive, but avocados are a bit of an exception at the moment. We have seen both Indian grown (green skin) and imported avocados (from Peru), on shelves this week.

Avocados are surprisingly prominent with upmarket stores displaying avocados at the front of the store, with very modern merchandising. I have seen 4kg trays of Peruvian Avocados for $50 in wholesale markets and $25 per kilogram at retail.

Everyone we have met with this week has confirmed that Australian avocados have a very good opportunity in India. We need to push even harder to get the Australian Government Department of Agriculture to negotiate market access as soon as possible. The opportunity is now.

The market program visits ranged from cash & carry businesses through to importers. The avocado, table grape, apple, pear, citrus and summerfruit industries were represented on the tour.

This article was prepared for the 26 July 2019 edition of the Guacamole.