The U.S. Cranberry Marketing Committee (CMC) has said it will use recently awarded government funds to develop its presence in India, with the expectation of it becoming 'one of the more important' export markets in the future. 

The CMC received a US$48,500 Emerging Markets Program grant by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service and will soon initiate a technical education program in the south Asian country to spur on demand.

"Specifically we will be looking at putting together seminars to work with trade manufacturers in India to basically provide education opportunities for use of various cranberry products in food manufacturing," CMC executive director Scott J. Soares told www.freshfruitportal.com.

The in-country seminars will teach attendees on cranberry product forms and versatility, as well as the technical details of cranberry utilization

Soares said previous cases demonstrated that every time additional funding was leveraged in support of international marketing and export activities there was a 'measurable return' on investment in the form of increased trade.

India is currently showing a projecting GDP growth of 6% annually over the next five years, and research predicted that the current US$9.5 million cranberry market would by 5% per year between 2013 and 2017.

Soares said that although the cranberry juice market is India is already relatively well established, he would not limit the marketing scope to other sectors of the industry.

"We'll be focusing on all product forms, so juice is apart of it, but certainly introduction and use of dry cranberry products will be part of the sweep of activities we engage in," he said.

A consumer survey revealed that 70% of Indian residents were aware of cranberry juice, but a mere 13% had heard of dried cranberries.

Soares said he hoped India would follow in the path of other key world markets that the CMC had been able to open up in recent years, adding he expected it to play a vital role in the future of U.S. trade.

"Indications are that it will be one of the more important markets for exports of U.S. products, and certainly cranberries are in that mix," he said.

"If we follow the course of what we've already done with China and Russia most recently, as well as South Korea and Mexico, it does look like there will be strong growth for cranberry consumption in India."

Soares said the most important markets for U.S. cranberry exports at the moment are the U.K. and western European countries.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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