India has matured into a tropical fresh fruit consumer market and nowhere is this more manifest than in the country’s love for pears from South Africa.
Speaking at the yearly IFPA Southern Africa, Shubha Rawal of fruit importer IG International, noted India’s overwhelming reliance on South Africa supplies.
In an Agrifocus Africa story of August 12, 2024, Rawal said that “South African pears have replaced all the pears coming to India.”
Rawal added that Cape’s supplies keep trickling into India 52 weeks a year, even as imports from the West keep flattening.
The import expert especially recounted the popularity of the Forelle pear, a crispy lime green type with a striking red flush.
Of equal appeal is Vermont Beauty, a shapely light green or yellowish type that has a huge following in India.
South Africa-India Pear Trade Timeline
It may seem like this resounding market success in India has been easy, yet sales only peaked in the past 4 years.
Indeed, peak demand for pears from South Africa by India’s consumers registered in October 2021, when imports reached 16,850 tonnes.
2021’s success owed to select varieties including Packam’s Triumph with a 43% market share, alongside growing preference for the Forelles and Vermonts.
Then in 2022, just when citrus was experiencing cold storage issues, South Africa’s pears got India’ in-transit cold treatment approval.
This decision meant an extended export season to India and quick shipping time after the elimination of warehouse treatment delays.
In short, India is now among the fastest growing import markets for pears from South Africa, which reflects a popularity progress. And this liking extends to the entire pear industry in South Africa, as the following statistics show.
South Africa Pears Statistics
South Africa ranked fifth globally in 2022 for pear production at 548,965 tonnes, according to FAOSTAT. Only China, the biggest producer at 19,265,000 tonnes, had multiple-million production units. And since China consumes most of its output, pears are competitive for other exporting nations such as South Africa. The country ranked fourth globally in 2022 with exports worth $231 million.
How popular are pears domestically?
According to Hortgro’s Fresh Quarterly, domestic sales of pears in South Africa have remained stable for years at 50,000 tonnes annually. This represents about 10% of a production total that averages 500,000 tonnes a year. The rest of the portion either goes into industrial processing or exports.
What market portion do South Africa’s pears represent in India?
As a fast growing export destination, India imports about 80% of its global pear supplies from South Africa. In 2022, India emerged among the fastest growing markets for South Africa’s pears with imports worth $10.9 million, according to OEC.