Mexico looking to boost avacado exports to India

The Mexican ‘King Avacado' (fruit) could soon be available in India. Buoyed by huge demand, Mexico is now trying to push avacado exports to India.

“We are working on the logistics aspects with the Government of Karnataka, and hope to use the State's knowledge or solution to reduce the transit time of shipments,” Mr Aldo Ruiz, Investment and Trade Commissioner, Ministry of Economy, Mexico, told Business Line on the sidelines of the Global Investors' Meet in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Avacado is a fruit native to Mexico, and is largely exported from there. It is very difficult to send fresh product exports to India because the transit time is long, he pointed out. “We are looking for better connectivity to India through Karnataka,” he said.

Currently, shipments from Mexico's Veracruz port take 44-50 days to reach Nhava Sheva container terminal in Mumbai. “We are trying to route shipments from Singapore to Mangalore port in Karnataka,” he said.

The preferred transit time would be 30-32 days, added Mr Ruiz. Other challenges in India would include cold storage facilities, which are not yet very well developed, and also ground transportation time which need to be reduced too.

Though Mr Ruiz declined to quantify the demand for avacado in India, he said that top retailers from India have shown interest in getting the fruit to the country and have been in touch with Mexican exporters and distributors.

anju@thehindu.co.in