The Hindu Business Line : Maersk India move to put India on banana trade map

Kolkata, Aug. 1 Maersk India Pvt Ltd, the Indian arm of the Copenhagen-based global container giant, has initiated moves to put India on the world banana trade map. The steps being undertaken include facilitating research in banana production, harvesting, warehousing and packaging and providing end-to-end logistics support, in addition to arranging for training to local exporters in cold chain management and marketing support in foreign countries, according to Maersk India sources.

India produces about 23 per cent of the world’s production of 48.9 million tonnes of bananas but is hardly present in the global banana trade of about 14 mt, worth about $4.7 billion. This is because, as Maersk India has noted, in India there is a lack of awareness about the market, poor post harvest management and inadequate supply chain. Ecuador, a much smaller country, on the other hand, accounts for 30 per cent of the world banana trade. Maersk’s refrigerated container initiative, that started six months ago, helped banana exporters in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu undertake trial shipments to the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

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