This upcoming visit, which takes place from the 23rd until the 30th of April, is the second trade mission to India, after the start of the multi-year public-private partnership PIB HortiRoad2India, in October last year. Shortly thereafter, the cluster of Dutch turnkey suppliers and specialized companies headed to the Indian states of Karnataka and Maharashtra. Here they saw that food production in India is changing and that Dutch knowledge and integrated solutions can support India in growing safe and healthy fruits and vegetables sustainably. The visit in November already led to the development of proposals for projects in India.
The retail sector and Heads of State in India confirmed that there is a large market demand and that the Dutch cluster is distinctive with its holistic and structured approach and integrated solutions. Desh Ramnath, cluster coordinator: ‘NLHortiRoad2India’s focus has shifted from regions with favorable agricultural opportunities to metropoles. Due to poor cold logistics and poor road network, 30% to 80% of production in India is lost. The last mission made us realize that we had to change our strategy. At the metropoles, millions of people live at a relatively short distance from production. We will focus on metropoles like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Sochi, Delhi, and Laknou, with Universities, and economic clout. Here, we see a large group of young urbanites with good jobs and a large group of young urbanites with good jobs, that prefer buying quality fruit and vegetables from modern supermarkets.’
The upcoming mission in April starts in Hyderabad and ends in Delhi. An attractive public and private program will be compiled with, amongst others visits to greenhouse projects, and practical training Centers. This will be followed by knowledge sessions, in-depth matchmaking sessions, and network receptions. Additionally, meetings with investors, project developers, retail, and the hospitality sector are part of the fully packed 6-day program.
The following organizations join the mission: Bayer CropScience Vegetable Seeds, Broekman Logistics, Hoogendoorn Growth Management, Lumiforte, Koppert, Meteor Systems, Priva, Ridder, Van der Hoeven Horticultural Projects, and Viscon Group.
The mission will be organized by Dutch Greenhouse Delta, InnovationQuarter, the Netherlands Embassy in India, and Rotterdam Partners.
Are you an Indian investor, project developer, entrepreneur, or director of a restaurant, hotel, or retail chain? And do you like to meet the cluster? Reach out to the cluster coordinators Desh Ramnath and Carine Eijkelkamp to set up a meeting.
