NEW DELHI: According to Mr Gopi Nath, owner of Nicola Foods, a company devoted to the export and trade of fresh fruit and vegetables from southern India to destinations like Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, UAE or Oman, “the market flow for potatoes this season has been good so far, with no issues with the harvest, prices or competitiveness.”
With the start of Ramadan, however, he explains that the import of vegetables on the part of the Arab countries is expected to drop, while fruit imports, especially bananas, should register a considerable increase, “as there will be more demand for highly nutritious foods.” Consequently, “potato exports will drop by around 40%, although this percentage will be recovered after Ramadan ends.”
While these changing trends do not directly affect Nicola Foods, since the company is merely devoted to trading, producers will be forced to keep their potatoes in cold storage; “this, in any case, won’t have any significant impact on the quality of the potatoes,” assures Mr Nath.
Despite these circumstances, the owner of Nicola Foods still expects the campaign to yield satisfactory results in global terms, since there is always good demand for Indian potatoes, as “compared to competitors like Bangladesh, India is able to offer easier logistics with cheaper transportation costs.”
