MK Group, with its member company Agrounija, is launching the export of apples to India, with a planned annual amount of one million dollars. At the event marking the beginning of the export of apples to the Indian market, the attendees were addressed by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Branislav Nedimović and His Excellency Subrata Bhattacharjee, Indian Ambassador to Serbia.
Speaking of fruit exports to India, His Excellency Subrata Bhattacharjee, expressed his satisfaction with the development of the export of Serbian apples to India. He also wished good luck to Agrounija and MK Group, as well as other Serbian companies, and invited them to further explore the Indian market, as it has great potential for many other products.
Apples will be exported to India in the period from October to June, 4 to 5 containers per month, and only in the first year it is planned to export about a thousand tons of apples, only from our plantations.
„We are extremely glad that we responded to the initiative launched at the level of the Republic of Serbia and, in accordance with our plans, started the realization of apple exports to India. The new market has great potential for us – it means the stability and continuity of sales prices, diversification of commercial risks, but also the possibility of exporting other categories of apples. If one knows that Serbia achieved a foreign exchange inflow of around 120 million dollars on apple exports last year alone, there is no doubt that the opening of this market will also contribute to the economy of our country. I would also like to thank the Ambassador of India in Belgrade, Mr. Bhattacharjee, for the contribution and support provided in the realization of these first containers,” said Nikola Nenadović, Director of the Agrounija Fruit, and added that for now it is planned to export about 10% of the total production capacity of this company to this new market.
Launching the export of apples to the Indian market is just a substantiation and continuation of the successful cooperation that the company MK Group and the Embassy of India have been pursuing for years. Agrounija says that they prefer red apple varieties in India – Gala, Red Delicious, Fuji, but also Granny Smith, and they will be the first to be on the Indian market, while they plan to promote the Crimson Snow variety.
Apart from the representatives of Agrounija, a member company of MK Group, the event was also attended by representatives of the companies of “COPA” (Cooperative of Pannonian Apples) and Delta Agrar, which also initiate the export of apples to the Indian market.
In addition to exports to India, Agrounija has been successfully exporting apples to the markets of the Russian Federation, England, Sweden, Germany, Slovenia, Spain, Montenegro, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Malaysia and Kuwait, Senegal and many others for years. As a reminder, MK Group with its member companies is among the largest exporters of agricultural crops in Serbia.