Sahyadri Farmer Producer Company Ltd (SFPCL) said on Wednesday that it had exported 22,000 tonne (1,459 containers) of grapes to various overseas markets during the season of 2018-19. The company said this makes it the largest grape exporter in India. Sahyadri Farms contributes 15% to the country’s grapes export. SFPC is among the major farmers’ producer companies in India with more than 8,000 marginal fruit and vegetable farmers. As much as 63% of the total farmer population in India is made up of growers with less than 1 hectare of land and Sahyadri provides the infrastructure to allow even the smallest farmers to be part of a global supply chain, chairman & managing director Vilas Shinde said.
From 2010, the group of farmers in the company quadrupled to 550 in 2013. The year 2015 saw the company establish two divisions with the retail division providing 100% traceable produce.
The company has facilities in Mohadi, Nashik, with 6,000 tonne of cold storage facilities and has the capability to pack 250 tonne per day in a pack house system employing 2,000 labour on a daily basis. SFPC is among the country’s largest Global GAP certified groups.
The group’s retail chain extension — Sahyadri Farms — has set up company-owned retail stores for fresh and quality fruits and vegetable. There are 10 stores in function at New Mumbai and Nashik. In the next two years, Sahyadri intends to set up 200 retail outlets .
SFPCL, which is 100 % owned and run by farmers, has bagged exclusive production and marketing rights for India for ARRA grape varieties. Jupiter Group, a major European company, has chosen SFPCL as a growing partner in India for the ARRA varieties.
Sahyadri Farms, the country’s largest FPC, had signed an agreement with Jupiter and started a new era in the agricultural sector of the country. Jupiter’s CEO and Group MD Mark Tweddle and Vilas Shinde, CMD of Sahyadri Farms, recently announced at Sahyadri Farms. As the first table grape breeding programme to enter India, Grapa Varieties, which commercialise the ARRA varieties on behalf of Agriculture Research & Development, is also part of this venture.
After experimenting with ARRA varieties in the region of Nashik on test blocks, the company plans to cultivate ARRA plants by the end of 2019 and to scale it up by an additional 2,000 hectare by the end of 2023. Volume harvest is expected as early as 2020 for export to global markets. This includes many varieties of green, black and red grapes, Shinde said.
