IMHO, this is a business that has no moat - otherwise, we would have food processors in the west that have delivered consistent shareholder returns over decades. While on agri inputs space you have companies like cargill, dupont, I can’t think of a single company that has scaled up except for chiquita -possibly.
I think things like approvals are a temporary moat but in the long term one must remember that these are pure commodities subject to weather/prices/government interventions.
Also, like someone pointed out on the food sourcing side, it is difficult to scale up as one is always dependent on the vagaries of quality of other farmers who one has to source from.
Also exports in pomegranates are set to double next year,grapes will increase by 12-15%(on the conservative side) a very high demand on pomegranate concentrate across the world due it numerous health benefit… freshtrop should do very well in coming years IMHO…also pl note that freshtrop is the only company listed which does export of fruits like grapes,pomegranates…etc
Article in Gujarat samachar today ,grapes exports set to increase by 35000 to 40000 tonnes annually if things get signed, freshtrop being the largest exporter of grapes will stand to gain.Good days ahead for this niche player.
One needs to balance the articles on POSSIBILITY of increasing grape exports with the fact that this years crop has been damaged due to unseasonal rain in Nov/Dec.
Indian table grape crops in the key growing state Maharastra are doing well despite some inclement weather, with predictions for harvests to get underway in just under one month.
Grape Growing Association of India president Sopan Kanchan told www.freshfruitportal.com the sector was on track to yield âgood volumesâ for export to the European Union.
âThere has been a little bad weather such as heavy rain and some hail recently and yes itâs caused some damage but nothing too bad and nothing that we cannot handle,â he said.
âI donât expect yields to be badly affected and certainly everything is looking fine for the export market in terms of producing high enough volumes. Some portion is definitely damaged but not as bad as some people say and the main point is that the crop for export is definitely there.
âWe can get some very bad weather here but weâre used to it. Some people always say around this time of year that the weather has badly damaged crops, but that is not the case this time. Everything will be just fine.â
The harvest for the European market usually begins around Feb. 10, Kanchan explained, but could be slightly earlier this season.
âWe are seeing a good crop so far this year although the climate does change regularly and we need to take a lot care and spend some money to make sure our yields will be good and meet the regulations laid out by the European Union.
âWe are a few weeks before harvest but it could be that we start to focus on the harvest for Europe earlier than we expect, possibly in the last week of January, but we will continue to monitor crops and react accordingly.
âWe expect good volumes and we have to make sure of that so we can compete against the likes of Spain, South Africa and Chile for instance. I hope importers from the European Union support us this season as every year we are coming with good crops and great quality, and I really would like to have more meetings with European importers so we can set up sustainable business practices that last for long periods of time.â
India: Sangli grapes to be exported to EU-7/JAN /2015
Grapes on as many as 5,000 acres of plantation land in Sangli district are all set to be exported to European Union (EU) countries. Sangli district is the second largest exporter of grapes in the state after Nashik. It is not yet clear how much grapes will be exported in tonnes. The final figures will be available after seven days.
Rajendra Ghuli, president of Sangli district grape growers’ association, said, “Grapes on some 5,000 acres will be exported to EU countries for which preparations are on. The farmers have registered their farms with the district agriculture office as export potential. The preparations before harvest are going on. By next week, packed grapes will be transported to Mumbai for export purpose. The grapes in Sangli district have received comparatively less damage from the unseasonal rainfall and hailstorms in December last year.”
Nitin Deval, secretary of the association, said, “Grape growers from Solapur district have reported major losses. However, the affected farmers are not very large in numbers. Tasgaon, Kavathe-Mahankal and Jath regions in Sangli are growing grapes for years. Fortunately, they did not receive showers this season. Grape as a crop is very delicate and vulnerable to variations in climate.”
Ghuli said the period of maturity of grapes has been delayed by a week, but termed such variations normal. “It happens once in 3-4 years and we have to cope up with it. The market scene for grape growers is positive because of higher prices. However, the customers find it over-priced,” he added.
Fresh grapes are sold at Rs 70-110 per kg in the retail market in Kolhapur. Black grapes fetch a better price - Rs 85-125 per kg. The prices are high as it is just the beginning of the season. “The rates will come down further by at least Rs 20 per kg. However, the customers will have to wait for at least three weeks for the prices to decline,” said Nandkumar Walanju, a city-based fruit
The ban on Indian mango imports into the EU will be lifted ahead of the next season which begins in March, www.freshfruitportal.com can reveal.
A proposal by the European Commission to lift the embargo, which has been in place since last May, was endorsed by Member State plant health experts during a Standard Committee meeting held in Brussels today (January 20).
An EC statement sent to _www.freshfruitportal.com_says the import into EU territory of certain fruit and vegetables a mango, the taro plant, two types of gourd and eggplant a were prohibited due to a high number of consignments intercepted at arrivals in the EU that were infested with quarantine pests, mainly insects, which may have threatened European productions.
aAn audit carried out by the Commissionas Food and Veterinary Office in India in September 2014 showed significant improvements in the phytosanitary export certification system,a the statement says.
aIndia has also proved assurances that appropriate measures are now available to ensure that the exports of mango fruits are free from quarantine pests, like the fruit flies, not known to occur in the Union.
aThe measures will allow the import of mango fruits before the start of the next import season in March 2015. At a later stage, when move evidence is collected regarding the Indian phytosanitary certification, the prohibition of vegetables will be reviewed.a
As per the latest shareholding pattern data for OND quarter, it looks like FII’s are now riding this with a 1.45% investment. Maybe this is still the tip of the ice-berg given the huge opportunities that lie ahead; the first signs of which will be evident in the quarterly results.
As of now there seems to be a lot of euphoria built up merely on the back of generic news.
Also just checked out if the recent storm has affected them in any way…they confirmed they are doing well with export orders running full. They dont intend taking any debt as mentioned in AGM so they should hopefully be debt free by q1fy16…we have to wait and see what numbers they come up with.
NEW DELHI: India’s mango exports are expected to rise by 40-50 per cent next fiscal following lifting of ban on import by the European Union, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.
“The lifting of ban by the European Union will boost mango exports. The country’s overall exports are expected to increase by 40-50 per cent next fiscal,” Singh told PTI.
The EU yesterday decided to lift a seven-month-long ban on the import of mangoes from India after the world’s bigg…
NEW DELHI: India’s mango exports are expected to rise by 40-50 per cent next fiscal following lifting of ban on import by the European Union, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.
“The lifting of ban by the European Union will boost mango exports. The country’s overall exports are expected to increase by 40-50 per cent next fiscal,” Singh told PTI.
The EU yesterday decided to lift a seven-month-long ban on the import of mangoes from India after the world’s bigg…
NEW DELHI: India’s mango exports are expected to rise by 40-50 per cent next fiscal following lifting of ban on import by the European Union, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.
“The lifting of ban by the European Union will boost mango exports. The country’s overall exports are expected to increase by 40-50 per cent next fiscal,” Singh told PT
NEW DELHI: India’s mango exports are expected to rise by 40-50 per cent next fiscal following lifting of ban on import by the European Union, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.
“The lifting of ban by the European Union will boost mango exports. The country’s overall exports are expected to increase by 40-50 per cent next fiscal,” Singh told PT
I don’t know how mango exports ban lift will help Freshtrop, as the region is not a major mango hub. Mango ban lifting with probably help growers in UP, Bihar and AP, no?
Anyway, I think the biggest disappointment in recent days has been the absence of the US grape export deal during Obama visit (note to self: tread with caution on generic news). That not withstanding, the grapes supply here in Mumbai has been fairly decent, with prices in the market ranging from INR 70-90/kg for both green and black grapes. This means that the grape season is progressing fairly well. Now in this backdrop and new markets from Russia opening up, I expect the company to turn an EPS of INR 9-10 for this yr. What multiple the market gives it is anybody’s guess, but I think 14-17x is good range. But yes, the biggest driver to me are the March ending numbers.
nikhil, very well said, one thing to note is these deals take time ,atleast 6 months…it may take time. What are your expected figures for q3 results? My take is that the price should consolidate between 150-170 for few weeks. I will give it a pe of 30 plus if at all they come with stunning numbers.All depends on results
shared by our friend kpthakershy who has met the management/cs officer : money control- date 2/2/2015- thankyou sir
Here are the minutes: Topline growth intact at 25 to 30%… All export orders fully executed… around 400 Containers have been shipped already… They only export Grapes in terms of fruits (major), other than that they have recently started Pomegranate with advance technology which separates the skin from seeds. It is in demand… Interestingly EU Ban was never an issue with them, even during EU Ban they used to export Mango Pulp. They did not export Mango as fruit however always exported Manog Pulp and Plulp was not banned only the fruit was banned. So technically EU Ban was not a factor for their balancesheet… Very interesting… Food Processing has already broken even so in future it will add to bottom line… Food processing is 60% domestic and 40% Export… area of concern were correction in Euro however they do hedging and take care of it… however i could see that he was more worried on falling Euro… They may start Banan… no clear indication however uncomfortably he said yes we may we may not but time will tell… On promoter buying he said promoters have always baught in allowed 5% window. Mr. ashok has always respected the 5% window of increasing holding and may do so… They are not eying any new Countries however EU being a major one and they started exporting it in Russia since last two years… However they are already exporting to their full capacity so there are less chance of adding a new country, unless they increase capacity which is less likely… Weather is favorable as per him for this year… In nutshell this year thay have already done production to 100% capacity and have already exported it and the take away was to know Break Even for Food Processing which was earlier washing away profits from Grapes export… Cheers…
so in future it will add to bottom line… Food processing is 60% domestic and 40% Export… area of concern were correction in Euro however they do hedging and take care of it… however i could see that he was more worried on falling Euro… They may start Banan… no clear indication however uncomfortably he said yes we may we may not but time will tell… On promoter buying he said promoters have always baught in allowed 5% window. Mr. ashok has always respected the 5% window of increasing holding and may do so… They are not eying any new Countries however EU being a major one and they started exporting it in Russia since last two years… However they are already exporting to their full capacity so there are less chance of adding a new country, unless they increase capacity which is less likely… Weather is favorable as per him for this year… In nutshell this year thay have already done production to 100% capacity and have already exported it and the take away was to know Break Even for Food Processing which was earlier washing away profits from Grapes export… Cheers…