The Hindu Business Line : Galla Foods bullish on mango export to Japan

It also plans to export a wide range of processed fruit and vegetable products and launch its own brand of fruit-based drinks in the domestic market by the year-end.

Mr Ramachandra Galla, Chairman of the Galla Group, told Business Line that the company plans to export over 120 tonnes of alphonso mangoes to Japan, to start with. (He was speaking after the inauguration of a vapour heat treatment facility needed to meet Japanese quality norms.)

Galla Foods hopes to exploit the opportunity of the opening up of fresh fruits exports to Japan after both countries finalised the protocols for export last year.

This would be the first full season of exports.

The company has tied up with Motooka of Japan, a distribution chain that caters to leading retail networks, which would stock the Galla brand of alphonso mangoes.

The company also plans to export banganapalle and mallika varieties, he said.

Galla Foods has set up the pack house and processing unit for fresh fruits at Chittoor at a cost of Rs 5 crore, where it also has a Rs 25-crore fruit pulp unit.

The company, which started from scratch in 2005, was able to gain a firm footing last year for the Galla brand of fruit pulp in the export markets in West Asia and Europe.

This year, for the season starting in May, it has orders for over 12,000 tonnes of mango pulp — that is twice what it exported last season, Mr Galla said.

The company has over 100 acres at the processing unit, which it plans to develop as a fruits and vegetable processing complex.

This would serve as a unit supporting farmers in the vicinity with value-added processing facilities to tap the export market, he added.

The company has sent samples of dried tomatoes to leading international brands like Kellogg, Campbell soups and Delmonte.

It is also encouraging okra cultivation among the farmers and has plans to tap the export market.

Galla has supported over 500 acres under okra by providing farmers with hybrid seeds and the knowhow for cultivation, he said.

The company is also investing over Rs 7-10 crore in fruit juice making.

It hopes to launch blended fruit drinks based on mango and guava by the year-end.

Also, with organised retail marketing catching on, the market for branded fruit-based products is set to grow, Mr Galla said.

Mr R. Shankaran, Director of Imago Consultants, which is assisting Galla Foods in tapping the Japanese market for fresh fruits and processed fruit products exports, said that five States have been cleared for exporting specific varieties of fresh mangoes to Japan.

They are Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal's Malda for langdaand chausa, Andhra Pradesh for banganapalli and alphonso, Maharashtra for alphonso and Gujarat for kesar.

An official from Japan's quarantine authority has been posted at Galla Foods processing facility to monitor the quality of exports.

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