India could soon have its first overseas specialised fruits and vegetables wholesale chain. The $100-million Chicago-based, fresh fruits and vegetables wholesale company Strube Celery & Co has evinced interest in setting up shop in India and has made presentations to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) in the ministry of commerce and industry.

The development comes at a time when there?s been strong opposition to the organised fruits and vegetables domestic retailers from the intermediaries, which has forced the closing down of some of the major retail chains in the country.

Strube Celery & Co, which is Chicago?s oldest and largest distributor of fruits and vegetables could face opposition from local wholesale dealers as well as intermediaries as they would fear erosion in margins with wholesale operations getting organised with more efficient supply chain.

Domestic majors like Tata Chemicals Ltd and Bharti Enterprises have signed overseas companies for procuring fresh produce from farmers. Tatas had earlier this year entered into a joint venture with the $2.5 billion Total Produce, which is Europe?s largest fresh produce company.

While Bharti Enterprises? along with Del Monte and Rothschild operate Field Fresh which is also involved in procuring farm produce and will now also be venturing into food processing. However no overseas company has yet started its wholesale operations in the fruits and vegetables segment.

India is the world?s second largest producer of fruits and vegetables, however produce worth Rs 60,000 crore annually gets spoilt due to lack of proper storage and transportation facilities. Industry analysts say that with the entry of such players in the back-end, the distribution and storage facilities would get the much-needed fillip as such companies would invest heavily on the cold storage warehousing and transportation.

It would also help realise better farm incomes and get a better deal for retailers, as it will bring about efficiency in the system by cutting procurement, transportation and storage costs.