Apples to India Pt 2
From the Ag Information Network, I’m Bob Larson with today’s Fruit Grower Report. Back in September, when India announced they were lifting tariffs on U.S. apple imports, growers in the state of Washington were beaming … and still are!
Washington Apple Commission president, Todd Fryhover says during the “tariff years” other countries took up the slack in what had been our number two market …
FRYHOVER … “You know, Turkey made a big play and took a lot of our market share. Poland did, other EU countries, France, Italy. The Iranian apples even came into the marketplace.”
So, Fryhover says, getting back to how things “used to be” will take some time …
FRYHOVER … “Certainly, India was not lacking for apples during that process. So, we have a lot of work at the Apple Commission to build back that brand awareness and it’ll certainly take a number of years before we feel comfortable in that process.”
Consumers in India know us, Fryhover says, but regaining their trust is complex …
FRYHOVER … “That’s right, and that’s very complex too, if we get into the weeds, you know, you talk about wholesale activities, retail activities. You know how big is the retail sector? It’s relatively small in comparison to the wholesale sector. What about e-commerce? How does that play a role? You know, there’s just a lot of different complexities that add into bringing back that brand awareness.”
Exports this year, Fryhover says are doing better than what was a down year in 2023, with both Mexico and Canada, our number one and two markets, taking up some of the slack.
