High Commissioner Mbega thanked the Indian government for cooperation in agriculture and other sectors, in a conversation with Unmesh Sharad Wagh, the Jawaharlal Nehru Mumbai port board chairperson after receiving the consignment arriving at the port on Wednesday.
The envoy and the port executive agreed to collaborate in the transport sector especially in the exchange of experience in regard to port operations.
Indian traders were mobilizing efforts in the wake of intense consultation by the High Commission and local stakeholders, and are now ready to start importing a number of fruits like pineapples and mangoes, she stated, citing liaison efforts by the Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA), seeking markets for local horticultural products in India.
Cooperation with TAHA had facilitated the first avocado shipment to the new market, she stated, noting that India’s IG International and Avoafrica Ltd firm based in Makambako, Iringa Region were intensely involved..
The consignment consisting of the Hass variety was received in a colorful function led by the High Commissioner, who explained that this coordination arose from exchanges at the Dubai Expo 2020. The government and TAHA signed a number of bilateral trade accords to get channels into international markets from local fresh produce.
TAHA chief executive officer Dr Jacqueline Mkindi described the shipment as a win-win deal, noting that Tanzanian growers and exporters smile all the way to the bank after securing a niche market for avocados, and Indian consumers whet appetites as the Tanzanian fruits will be cheaper and fresh.
Amani Temu, the general manager of fresh products handling firm linked with TAHA, said logistics used absorbed costly time-consuming cross-border non-tariff barriers to export horticulture produce overseas.
TAHA Fresh Ltd offers a wide range of services in horticultural products export and import, including its flagship airfreight service with components like clearing and forwarding, refrigerated trucking, perishable handling and sea freight from Dar es Salaam and Mombasa ports.
The logistics firm is slowly but surely becoming a leading horticulture freight specialist, designing solutions for the bourgeoning industry now scaled at $800m worth of business annually.
Echoing sentiments of the Ministry of Agriculture, the envoy commended TAHA and the private sector at large for a proactive role in seeking crop markets outside, as the government strengthens bilateral trade ties and works to open up overseas markets.
IG Fruits International executive Shubha Rawal said that with no import duty on Tanzanian avocados, the fruit would be reasonably priced for Indian consumers, helping grow the category.
“For a long time, India had been bereft of the goodness of creamy Tanzanian avocados,” he remarked, asserting that the firm “will offer the joy of biting into a selectively luscious bunch of Hass avocados straight from the lush green lap of Tanzania at very fair prices.”
Avo Africa is part of the Keitt Group, growing and exporting fruits and vegetables to markets in Europe and the Middle East for over two decades, and largely the leading grower-exporter of avocados from Tanzania and Kenya.
Dipesh Devraj, commercial and operations director of Keitt Group in East Africa, said the Indian market had enormous potential for Tanzanian avocados.
“In January, a trade prohibition on avocado shipments from Tanzania to India was removed, allowing us to access the Indian fresh produce market,” he explained. “Over the years, our avocados have been adored across the world, and now we wish to introduce them to India.
“Anyone apart from IG Fruits International would not have sufficed as we were only going to approach the best. Their extensive network and our stringent quality control are a winning combination. We are thrilled to finally enter the Indian market as an exporter and look forward to watching our clients’ faces light up when they eat our creamy avocados,” the agro-sector executive intoned.
