I still remember the day when our regular customer, Mrs Reddy, casually commented that ‘Add to cart’ is her favourite time pass these days. The pandemic enabled scores of people like her to contribute to India’s digital landscape with their frequency of online shopping, especially for fresh produce.
Countries like the UK currently import 40% of their fresh produce from agrarian countries, with China taking the significant portion. India is expected to grab the lion’s share in the world’s food industry with the sector’s development and the resources developed by agri-tech startups over the past two years.
Although the Indian economy had been experiencing a downturn until recently, demand for commodities and fresh produce grew due to its health virtues. As people make healthier food choices, hotels and restaurants are also stocking up on fresh produce, often the centrepiece of their F&B offerings.
Urban and urbane consumers focus on food safety and traceability while shopping for fresh produce. They expect the same from players in the HoReCa sector.
There has been a growth in demand for immunity-boosting foods like Ginger, Garlic, Turmeric, Papaya, Oranges and Amla over the past two years and high-value fruits and vegetables like strawberries, bok choy, basil, iceberg lettuce, etc. Response for plant-based meat products or vegan substitutes for non-vegetarian food items like Soya and Jackfruit has seen a surge too. While there were limited takers for organic items in the past, this segment has seen an upswing.
This change in behaviour raises the question of whether farm estate is India’s new IT, taking the overall economy towards a healthier growth trajectory.
IRONING OUT THE ISSUES
Today, last-mile delivery is getting more organized, with doorstep delivery, mobile shopping vans and farmers’ supermarkets getting normalized in tier I and II cities. However, contrary to traditional thinking, fresh produce has a unique problem and opportunity.
It demands distinct process lines and timed operations, and traditional inventory models cannot support this industry at a scalable pace. This is where agri-tech companies step in.
Several agriculture startups sprouted during the pandemic; India currently has over 1000 startups in this space. Agri-tech businesses had initially co-existed with the traditional farming ecosystem, but COVID brought about a shift across operations in the agricultural economy. From conventional, non-formal, and analogue markets, these startups have become more creative, formal and digital, reaching out to a more extensive set of audiences, especially the HoReCa sector.
The biggest challenge in the fruit and vegetable production and sale process is the quality and freshness of the produce, which includes timely delivery. The quality of fruits and vegetables provides the elimination of unwanted substances such as chemicals, pesticides, bacteria and other materials used during the growing and harvesting process.
Many standards have been formulated and used at the national level in the agricultural sector to ensure premium quality. Firms have started taking into account these legislations, which guarantee the safety and quality of the produce.
Secondly, the time taken for this produce to travel from production to the buyer’s doorstep plays a critical role in maintaining its nutritional benefits. From the logistical point of view of the producer, a big issue is bringing the perishable produce quickly to the consumer within a reasonable time without damaging its quality. Some companies are taking appropriate steps to ensure that fresh produce is being delivered to the consumers as soon as it is harvested.
The Ministry of Agriculture has established a call-centre service to reduce the troubles in agri-logistics, especially the inter-State movement of perishable fruits and vegetables. With the departure of the intermediaries, many of these changes are likely to remain and lead to opportunities. The Electronic National Agriculture Market – a pan-India electronic trading forum for farmers – is extensively used for agricultural knowledge and services about commodity entrances, quality, price and online payments directly into farmers’ accounts. Increased digital literacy, the pandemic, mushrooming of agri-tech startups, revolutionizing of farming techniques and government regulations have together caused this robust paradigm shift in fruits and vegetables shopping in India. However, the bottom line is that only technology can solve the inefficiencies of the fragmented agri-sector to bring it on par with the world. Agriculture in India needs technology adoption at every stage to translate into an industry.
