While in Australia all eyes have been on China for signs of progress in the negotiations to permit access of Australian apples, another mega-country is already open and looking to do business.

Like China, India’s economy is growing fast and by 2050, it is set to become the largest consumer economy by purchasing power parity (PPP) with an estimated population of 1.63b. Unlike China, the average age in India is significantly lower with a staggering 50 per cent of the population below 24. It is this young, professional consumer market that Australian growers might really have something to get excited about, with 70 per cent of young Indians believing imported fruits taste better, are of higher quality and wider variety.

Also unlike China, India has already granted access to both Australian apples and pears, although high tariffs on Australian produce makes exporting impractical and not always commercially viable: a 50 per cent tariff is applied for imports, which is still considerably less than the eye-watering 70 per cent for US-sourced produce.

Despite the high tariffs India places on imported fresh produce, Australian growers are starting to receive direct inquiries as other southern hemisphere countries run low on fruit to export.

Source: apal.org.au