IndiaPost.com - King Alphonso is here!

India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Alphonso, the king of fruits is here, finally. The most relished of Indian mangoes arrived in New York last week when Dr Bhaskar Savani, the first Indian American to hold a USDA permit for importing the fruit from India, received his first shipment in beautifully packaged boxes at the JFK international airport by Air India cargo on April 27.

The fruit from India has regained entry to the US market after a gap of 18 years. The 60 boxes of Alphonso and 90 boxes of Kesar variety of mangoes that Dr Savani imported, will mainly be given away for "gifting" and "tasting" to VIPs in the national capital. Dr Savani has also sent out samples to wholesale giant COSTCO and fast food major McDonalds. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) gave its green signal to Indian mango producers to export the fruit to the US following concerted efforts by the Indian agriculture ministry, the APEDA as well as individual initiatives of people like Dr Savani, not to mention the immense personal interest shown by President George W. Bush. "But for President Bush, it would not have been possible in a million years to get the Indian mango to the US," Dr Savani told India Post even as he was on his way to attend a ‘mango tasting’ event jointly organized by the US-India Business Council (USIBC) in Washington DC on May 1. The US had stopped import of mangoes from India nearly two decades ago, on grounds that Indian farmers were using too much pesticide.

The issue was hanging fire till now due to unresolved bilateral phytosanitary issues. The exports finally come through with USDA imposing import rules prescribing irradiation phytosanitary treatment based on a mutually agreed treatment protocol, which aims at assuring that there would be no risk of introduction of exotic plant diseases and pests into the US. Although the Indian agricultural ministry and APEDA have been working for over a decade on getting the USDA to lift the ban on Indian mangoes, Dr Savani claims that it was his initiatives and personal efforts over the last three years that had the USDA convinced about the gamma radiation treatment of the fruits as the acceptable treatment to prevent pests and related diseases that are likely to spread with mangoes.

A dentist by profession with offices in New Jersey and Philadelphia, Dr Savani has a family orchard in Amreli district in Gujarat, India, that grows the Kesar variety of mangoes. Although he has been running a business exporting mangoes to Dubai for a long time, his interest in wanting to bring the mango to the US is primarily to get Indian farmers to compete in the international market, he says. About his involvement with the USDA Dr Savani says, "Initiating was the key, coordinating with the right authorities and connecting the dots was the key, which is what I did."

For instance, he says, when the USDA had earlier sent a letter to the Indian agricultural ministry asking how many pests and insects are likely to attack the mango, someone in the ministry had said at least "200". "They had no idea how to tackle the USDA queries," he says. "But when I got involved, I went to the Indian agricultural universities and researched on it, we finally brought the number down to six. The USDA didn’t have any information on them and needed data to see if those pests react to gamma rays." That was when he brought the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) into the picture, Dr Savani claims. Only last week, the USDA gave the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) and the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT) in India the go ahead for exporting of the fruit. Dr Savani also says it was his idea to have the International Mango Festival — an annual affair held in Florida, Miami – celebrate the Indian mango.

"The National Mango Authority is the major authority on mango imports in the US. I have been lobbying them for sometime. Three years back I had recommended to them that they check out the Indian Alphonso. Did you know that there is actually an Alphonso tree in Florida? The National Mango Authority had it planted. No government agency was involved in this, it was entirely my initiative." Luckily, it was during President George W Bush’s visit to India last year that talks on mango exports from India to the US were renewed. "From then on things moved faster than I ever imagined; and I got the first permit to bring the mango into this country," Dr Savani adds. "Most of the boxes in my first shipment are for gifting with a few samples going to COSTCO.

In fact, even as we speak, COSTCO executives are holding a meeting to take a decision on distributing the Indian mangoes through their outlets. I am also talking with McDonalds to introduce mango-milkshake on their menus." For the future, Dr Savani has a vision of flooding the US market with the favorite Indian fruit. "Its a billion dollar vision for an agro-focused economy," he says ambitiously. "After all we do have a great product. And I want to do this for our farmers back home." Although the USDA has given its clearance to bring in the Indian mangoes, the department will ensure that the process and procedures are standardized and regulated, Dr Savani explains. "They will ensure that the fruit is coming from certified farms and certified distributors and certified buyers. For the first couple of years it will be very organized and channeled."

Meanwhile, the Indian government has stated that sustained efforts on the part of the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and APEDA aimed at meeting the US import plant health requirements for mango have finally borne fruit. Initially, India will be exporting Alphonso, Banganpalli and Kesar, the early maturing mango varieties, while Langra, Chausa, Mallika, Dussheri and other varieties are proposed for exports in the latter part of the mango season. There is no import duty on mangoes exported to the US. Demand for mangoes in the US is strong, with a market size estimated at about 25,000 tons. The strong demand for the fruit is partly driven by the large and growing Indian Diaspora in the US. Dr Savani however, believes, the larger American chains should be the focus of the Indian mango importers and distributors, and not merely the Indian American or South Asian American market. "Indians are anyway going to buy their native fruits, it is the larger American market that should be the target," he explains, adding that every Indian who buys these mangoes should make it a point to gift one box to an American neighbor and let them know its worth. He feels that APEDA now has the responsibility of regulating and channeling the export/distribution process.

"This is very precious cargo we are dealing in, so we have to create value for it here," he says firmly. Currently, the leading exporter of mangoes to the US is Mexico with Central American countries following. Opening of the US market for Indian mango spells an excellent business opportunity for Indian mango producers and it is now for the Indian entrepreneurs, mango growers and trade associations to realize the fruits of the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture, the press release says.