US-China trade war is helping in accelerating value addition in the Indian seafood exports to the US, seafood major Amalgam Group said on Wednesday. Major US retailers are now actively sourcing value-added shrimps like breaded shrimps from India. Earlier China used to import shrimps from India and re-export it to the US market after value addition.
India is the largest producer of shrimps in the world and accounts for nearly 6% of the global fish production. China imported 49,701 tonne of seafood from India in 2017-18 worth $227.39 million.
India exported 35,000 tonne of value-added products, worth $350 million, to the US market in FY18 ,while the total seafood exports to the US market during the same period were to the tune of $2.3 billion with frozen shrimp the major item of exports.
Amalgam group chairman AJ Tharakan said that the hike in tariffs by the US for imports from China is likely to help Indian seafood exports in a big way. “We are currently doing private labeling for major US retailers in the frozen seafood sector and investing `45-50 crore for a new factory in Allepey for value added products,” he said.
Established in 1977, Amalgam has been one of India’s major seafood exporters and aqua food producers. All the processing facilities of the group have the required certification and accreditation for export to the US, European Union, Japan and Australia.
Tharakan said that there is a marked change in the US and European market regarding Indian foods with the all retailers having an Indian food section as against the earlier trend of only small Indian shops that stored Indian foods.
The growing Indian diaspora in most countries is consuming increasing quantities of Indian food and the potential for the export of frozen foods from India is huge, he added.
Amalgam Group has also launched a new brand line ‘Buffet’, targeting the health-conscious segment with a range of frozen foods. Buffet’s range of frozen snacks is low on salt and saturated fat and its vegetable range of sweet corn and green peas are organically grown, non-GMO and free of any pesticide residue. Grated coconut is sourced from the organically certified islands of Lakshadweep, known for its quality coconuts.