Horticulture is a vital sector contributing 24% of Agriculture GDP. With National Horticulture Mission under Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, heralding a new revolution by proposing Rs. 150 billion ($3.3 billion) for horticulture development in India, it is no more a village chaupal discussion. Horticulture is a serious business now with India's top corporate houses evolving strategies to enter fruit, vegetable and herbs retailing. The Vision Document of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries projects an investment of Rs. 1000 billion in food processing sector that will create several times more demand for horticulture items. APEDA, an arm of Ministry of Commerce, is well set to achieve an export target of 5-8 billion dollars in coming years.
Horticulture is no more farm activity; it is Horti Business now. Due to sheer size of our country as also the diverse nature of horticulture in various zones, there has been a lack of communication among stakeholders. Latest technologies are developed in one part of the globe, but farmers in other parts are woefully ignorant about them, or they find the technology out of reach. Producers looking for processing technologies are unable to locate suppliers; importers & processors want high volume supplies but find no platform to contact suppliers/ exporters. The whole scenario is unstructured. Yeomen service by Government of India through its Ministries of Agriculture, Commerce and Food Processing Industries has brought some order. However, there is a need for a common platform. Indian horticulture also needs an international platform to announce its arrival as a global player.
International Horti Expo 2011 (Grand 8 in 1), recognized as the Largest Horticulture, Food & Technology Exhibition in South Asia, will provide the platform to the entire horticulture and food sector, right from producers to retailers, to come together and transact most important business, i.e direct business.
Opportunities in Indian Market : Organised F & G Retail requires direct sourcing of bulk produce from farmers and this ensures a great opportunity for them. Government of India is promoting modern marketing concepts and creating atmosphere in favour of Indian farmers, circumventing middlemen, to increase the income of farmers. More than 5000 new outlets , 100 hypermarkets, 500 department stores and 2000 supermarkets are in pipeline. Over 6000 small and traditional outlets are going through the modernisation phase.
F & G Retail Projections for Expansion Plans in coming years : Reliance Fresh : To cover 70 cities, 784 urban towns and 6000 odd rural mandis. Future Group : 250 Food Bazaars with 2.5 million sq fit in 50 cities. RPG Group : 500 Spencer's Fresh, Daily, Super and Hyper models. Wadhawan Group: 1500 Spinach/S-Mart/Sabka Bazaar outlets in 100 cities. Subhiksha : 4000 neighborhood outlets across the nation by 2010. Among other prominent major corporate players firming up Pan-India or regional plans are : Bharti-Wal-Mart, AV Birla Group (Trinethra/More), Heritage Foods (Fresh @), Namdhari Fresh, Hypercity, Dairy Farm, Foodworld, Niligiris, Radhakrishna Foodland, Influx, Landmark Group (Spar), Mother Dairy & Safal specific expansion by REI Agro (6 ten stores) Jubiliant Group (Jumbo Saver & Monday 2 Sunday), Hopcoms & Margin Free, Shree Lalmahal (365 stores), Adanis, Arambagh, Foodmart apart from hundred's of small and marginal players. |
Horti Expo 2009 visitors were primarily (43%) progressive farmers looking for new products, services or partnership. Food Processing companies (existing and prospective) found 2nd category (30%) who were keen to locate supply sources, machineries and material consumption. A large number of foreign delegates came searching for J. Vs. partners and suppliers. Food Wholesalers and retailers came in large number to take supply and new products. Horti Expo also appreciated general visitors and consumers who came in to see new products launched. 
Horti Expo 2009 got overwhelming approval from exhibitors with majority (45%) of exhibitors terming it as ‘excellent or very good'. Rest 55% rated it "Good or satisfactory". According to exhibitors feed back, over 85% exhibitors would like a larger area in next Horti Expo 2011.