Following an import duty cut on pistachios in Budget 2011-12, Californian grower Paramount Farms International (PFI) has decided to up its investments in India.

On Wednesday, it announced plans to invest an additional $10 million on its India operations.

The investment, according to Mr Mark Masten, Vice-President, Global Sales & Marketing, PFI, will be to expand capacity at its Gujarat facility.

Right now, Paramount has a pistachio roasting plant in Vadodara which can process 453 tonnes of pistachios. Anticipating an uptake in demand, thanks to the price reduction in pistachios, the company wants to expand capacity by 3-4 times within the next 18-24 months and is scouting for land.

Mr Masten said that prices of in-shell pistachios have come down from Rs 1,100 a kg to Rs 900 a kg, thanks to the import duty cut (from 30 per cent to 10 per cent). As a result, he said, volumes have already doubled in last couple of months.

Marketing

The company will try to further grow the market by spending $2 million annually on advertising, promotions and consumer awareness for its “Wonderful” brand of pistachios.

In an marketing move, the company has started retailing the pistachios in 17 gm sachets priced at Rs 15.

Already available across 11,000 retail outlets, Paramount now plans to sell pistachios across 20,000 outlets within the next year.

India consumes about 2,267 tonnes of Californian Pistachios (overall, we consume about 9,071 tonnes with major imports coming from Iran). Paramount claims it has 60 per cent share of the Californian Pistachios.

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