🍲 Can India Rule the $166 Bn Superfoods Market?
The whole world is getting increasingly conscious about its health. And India could majorly benefit from this behaviour. Here's how.
Turmeric Latte, Hot Yoga, Cold Pressed Mustard Oil.
Everyday things in India? Well, they have now become super popular health secrets in the West.
The latest Eastern health fad taking over the Western world is moringa or what we commonly known as drumsticks.
This one plant alone can help India unlock a $7 billion market!
Wondering how? ReadOn!
🤫 The Secret of Moringa
India is home to a vast number of super healthy veggies and fruits, including some that the world now considers "superfoods".
Moringa is one of them and rightly so. The plant is as versatile as Suryakumar Yadav (cricket fans know what we're talking about).
So much so, every part of the plant is useful.
Seeds: Can be used to purify water.
Leaves: Can be used as a biofertiliser.
Fruit: Super nutritious and full of protein.
And all the other parts of the tree can be eaten.
What are the benefits of eating these parts?
They can help you
Reduce cholesterol and obesity
Treat diabetes
Treat chronic inflammation
Boost immunity
Treat bowel disorders
And scientists are further researching the plant to understand what other illnesses it could possibly treat.
Thanks to these health benefits, moringa is fast becoming popular in the world. Not only is moringa powder replacing matcha green tea in smoothies and drinks, it is also being used extensively in skincare and hair care products.
The current global market for moringa is worth $7.7 billion! And this is expected to be $14 billion by 2028 (growing at a CAGR of 9.63%).
What does this mean for India?
Jackpot!
We could make a killing exporting moringa, which is so commonly grown here. Plus, we have an advantage over other countries.
Countries that don't have a tropical climate can't really grow moringa.
And many African countries that do grow moringa, grow an inferior quality of moringa as compared to India.
So, Indian moringa is in high demand.
Now, we can fulfil 80% of the world's moringa demand, but right now we are only fulfilling 6%* through organised players.
Boosting this number will have multiple benefits:
Our exports will increase
Farmers' incomes will increase, and they wouldn't have to worry about the crops dying due to lack of water (as moringa is drought resistant)
But how can we achieve this?
🥬 How India Can Become A Superfoods Superpower
One way to do this is by educating farmers about growing moringa. Though we do grow enough moringa (2.2 million tonnes), explaining their benefits and high prices to farmers would boost our production.
But at the same time, we need to make sure that we are growing good quality moringa on healthy soil that is not sprayed with too many pesticides or fertilisers.
Plus, currently, a lot of exports are also unorganised, making them difficult to track. So, the government could create a new code for moringa exports to help us track these exports better.
But our main challenge in becoming an exports hub is our lack of proper logistics.
India isn't just a major producer of moringa. We are actually major producers of a lot of fruits and vegetables.
Like bananas, ginger, papayas, potatoes and onions.
But unfortunately, we only have a 1% share in the global fruits and vegetables market.
That's because we don't have a reliable system of cold storages, cold chains, refrigerated travel systems, etc. that can transport these items fast enough to ensure that they survive the export journey.
Every year we lose 4.58%-15% of the fruits and vegetables we produce.
So, we really need to work on logistics if we want to become major exporters of food.
This would also give us considerable importance globally.
If we become the world's food providers, most countries would want to keep good relations with us.
The government's new National Logistics Policy could help us achieve this goal but it is still too soon to accurately predict how successful the policy will be.
The bottom line is we need to identify homegrown fruits, vegetables and plants that are growing popular across the world. If we can tap into such trends, India could soon become a net exporter.
But will we be able to execute this plan well?
Only time will tell.
*Only 6% of our moringa exports are by players exclusively dealing in moringa. More exports are also being facilitated by those dealing in similar medicinal herbs but we cannot exactly pinpoint the quantity of such exports.
⚡In a line: India could tap into a growing superfoods and nutraceuticals market if we could sort out our logistics and supply chains.
💡Quick question: Do you think the national logistics policy can help solve this problem?
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