Spices Board identifies Thailand as focus country, targets export of specialised blends
KOCHI: The Spices Board has identified Thailand as a focus country for accelerated growth for the export of Indian spices, especially specialised blends like chicken curry masala, fish curry masala, meat masala and read-to-cook products.
Diwakar Nath Mishra, joint secretary, Ministry of Commerce, speaking at a webinar organised by the Spices Board in association with the Embassy of India, Bangkok, for an International Buyer Seller Meet (IBSM), said Thailand was an important destination for India’s spices and it opens opportunities and offers ample avenues to expand this further. India on an average exports 68225 MT of spices to Thailand every year, valued at Rs 944.35 crore, which accounts for 6 per cent volume and 5 per cent in value of India’s total spice exports. The major spices exported from India to Thailand are chillies, turmeric, garlic, and value-added products, spice oils and oleoresins, curry powders etc.
"Considering the prospective growth potential, established market access, the opportunity to increase the imports by Thailand is prolific, especially for specialized spice blends like chicken curry, fish curry, meat masala and ready to cook products. Given the consistently emerging industrial demand from food and meat processing sectors, the Board has identified Thailand as a focus country for accelerated growth for export of Indian spices," he said.
Suchitra Daurai, the Ambassador of India to Thailand, who inaugurated the international online event, highlighted the historic ties between the two nations and the opportunities for Indian spices in Thailand.
The event brought together over 240 exporters from India and 60-plus importers from Thailand.
Speaking at the event, D Sathiyan, secretary of Kochi-headquartered Spices Board said, "The Board has been conducting a series of digital buyer-seller meets (BSM) for ensuring that there is no gap/hindrance in sourcing and supply of spices from the country. These BSMs benefited farmers, traders and exporters immensely."
"The Board is in the process of launching a unique virtual platform for export facilitation and promotion. This platform would provide exporters with updated trade and market information in addition to facilities for setting up their virtual office in the portal. The portal will also have the facilities to conduct virtual trade fairs and meets, seminars, workshops, training programmes etc. for the Indian spice industry," he added.
As per the Commerce Ministry's data, India’s spice exports amounted to more than 17 lakh MT valued at more than Rs 30,000 crore during the 2020-21 fiscal year. This scaled to $4 billion in value in dollar terms despite the pandemic situation.