Indian importers enjoy year-round availability of healthy kiwi fruit from Iran, which no doubt signifies strengthened India Iran relations. Indian importers mainly enjoy the Hayward variety, which is brought Chile, Iran, and New Zealand, with smaller quantities arriving from Greece and Italy, it was notably reported by a Jatin Bajaj a fresh produce importer Gyan Fruit Company. Jatin Bajaj while highlighting the strengthened India Iran relations said that Iranian supply of Kiwi has increased by 150%, making their fruit far cheaper this season.
He further said that Iranian kiwifruit shipments have arrived earlier than usual this season: “Typically, the season begins around mid-October, but this year we started receiving Iranian kiwis by mid-September. The availability is mainly due to early-maturing Hayward fruit being harvested and shipped ahead of schedule.” Fresh supply of Iranian kiwi supply will continue till February, followed by cold storage arrivals through June. With the Chilean season wrapped up last month, experts shared that, “There were dry matter quality issues in certain arrivals, but overall we saw about 870 containers from week 19 to week 38, which was well above last year’s shipments.” Iranian fruit quality has been consistent so far, and Bajaj says larger sizes should appear soon.
Indian importers also reported about the bottleneck competition among the importers during the peak season. We grapple with similar logistics challenges on the Chilean side, and it would help to have shipping companies set up direct routes to India.