The Hindu Business Line : There is sizeable market for Kerala delicacies abroad

EVERY month, refrigerated containers filled with ready-to-eat Kerala parottas , string hoppers (idiappam), chappatis, idlis, vadas, samosas, cutlets, banana chips and an assortment of other delicacies are shipped from the Kochi port to destinations across the world.

While some of these shipments are intended for stores in West Asia, others are bound for the UK and the US. All these food-filled containers, though, are part of an elaborate chain that gives thousands of non-resident Malayalees an opportunity to savour the flavours of Kerala.

There is a substantial market for ready-to-eat food from Kerala, says Mr S. Ramnath, Chief Executive of the Agency for Development of Food Processing Industries in Kerala (ADFIK), a State Government initiative formed to promote the State's food-processing industry.

Convenience and the opportunity to taste the flavours of `home' are the main drivers of the demand for ready-to-eat food from Kerala, explains Mr Suresh Mathew Nilamel, of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Nilamel Exports.

"All that needs to be done with most of these ready-to-eat foods is to re-heat them in a microwave for a few minutes," he points out.

While Kerala parottas, banana chips and pappads are popular in the US; products such as pre-cooked tapioca, aviyal mixes, sambar mixes and grated coconut are popular in West Asia. Other ready-to-eat food such as aviyal, sambar, fish biriyani, chicken biriyani, seer fish steaks and so on are also in demand, says Mr Nilamel whose company exports many of these products to West Asia and the US.

Most of these delicacies are targeted at non-resident Malayalees, though in some places they already enjoy a staunch following among other South Asians. In France, for instance, pre-cooked parottas and string hoppers from Kerala are very popular with people from Sri Lanka, says Mr Nilamel.

Similarly, in several West Asian countries, Kerala's snack foods such as banana chips, jackfruit chips and `mixture' are finding their way onto the shopping lists of locals, he points out.

The future for this business is "promising", says Mr Ramnath of ADFIK. However, industry players need to get more organised, he adds.

New packaging technologies and new markets such as Australia and New Zealand are likely to foster the growth of this segment of the food industry, Mr Nilamel believes. Eventually, though, most companies in this business will also have to look at entering the domestic market, he adds.

More Stories on : Lifestyle | Foods & Food Processing | Kerala

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