Honey: an export opportunity?

Recent scandals about contamination of honey in India could represent a golden opportunity for fast-moving kiwi exporters.   Early this year Indian honey exports to the EU were blocked due to tests showing antibiotics and heavy metal contamination. Indian authorities have blamed the problem on Chinese honey being “laundered” through India to sidestep an EU ban and US anti-dumping duties.   However, an environmental NGO – the Centre for Science and the Environment, based in New Delhi – recently tested 12 brands of honey samples sold domestically for levels of antibiotics. Multiple antibiotics were found in high amounts in 11 out of the 12 samples tested, including samples from Australia and Switzerland. Together the brands in question accounted for over 85% of domestic sales.   Rules issued under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act (India’s main food safety law) do not prescribe maximum limits for antibiotics. But concerns about contamination could prompt India’s food safety regulators...

India's emerging cities

  Cities are engines of economic growth around the world, and India is no exception. Some recent reports from international consultancies shed light on India’s emerging cities, and the huge role they will play in the country’s economic future.   The established metros – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai – are traditionally top-of-mind for foreign companies wishing to enter India. These have been joined by relative new-comers like Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Pune as attractive business destinations. But India’s urban landscape is much larger than this. India has 42 cities with a population of more than 1 million people. By comparison, Europe has 35.   For New Zealand companies attracted to India, it makes sense to look at opportunities outside the top tier of Indian cities. With the more developed markets of the big metros comes stiffer competition and higher costs (rents, professional services, traffic congestion). And the scale needed to serve these markets may be beyond...