Importing vegtables directly from farm in India

[CornerShopDev]

So as my handle says, I am in retail and run a typical Grocery CornerShop.

My cousin in India runs my farm (about 50acres), times are tough over there and farmers aren't being looked after very well. He makes a good living by India standards but we'd like to explore some other options when it comes to the produce.

We want to import some of the produce to UK from India. What do I need to do? Can you explain it to me like I am 5 year old? So I can do the research and see if we can start working some thing out. I know it depends on the type of food and a lot this depends on what clients I get... however I quite know what we want to import just yet so in a bit of catch 22 situation but we are going to try small and see if we can build it up!

I really appreciate any advice any one has to give me!

 

[Import Expert]

Hi,

From a 'Logistics' point of view rather than that of commercial/marketing, much will depend on what type of products you would like to move to the UK.

Considerations should be shelf life - i.e. would you need a quick transit time of a couple of days using air freight, which would be more expensive, or use sea freight which would be cheaper but longer transit time.

If goods are shipped via sea, then you would most likely have to take a full 20' or 40' container as there are very few services that will take part (groupage) shipments for fresh produce. The cost of a 40' container is not always that much more than a 20'.

Thirdly, can the products be shipped in an ambient temperature (i.e. in a standard shipping container), or would they need a refrigerated container to control the temperature.

You would be best advised to check with DEFRA if there would be any special documentary requirements for the product type, such as phytosanitary certificates.

Lastly, you would need consider what Import Duty might be (VAT on most fresh products would be zero rates).

Hope this helps!

Kind regards,
Darren.

 

[CornerShopDev]

Hey Darren, this is really helpful thanks.
Can I ask how much the difference in price would be air freight compared to sea freight?

Also with air, is there usually a minimum volume amount or is it generally more acceptable to have smaller volumes of weight compared to sea because its not a full container and more expensive. thanks for the advice

Also how do I go about working out the appropriate routes from point of departure ? is this something I shouldn't worry about and leave this to cargo company to figure out for me? or should I look into this in depth? Sorry if these are stupid questions

 

[Import Expert]

No problem.

It's really hard to say on price differences without specific shipments in mind but as a VERY rough estimate it would be approx 4x as much by air. There is no real minimum as such although you will probably pay the same for anything up to around 50-100 Kgs (Again very rough figures).

A freight forwarder will decide on the most economical route so not need to worry about that. You would however have to consider how near the export port will be from you as obviously trucking costs will be involved. This will generally be one of the major international ports.

 

[Mr D]

And at this moment in time we do not know what port delays will happen or when. No impact on your goods or delays in receiving goods could apply. Stuff is apparently being sent at the moment where no one is certain, beyond a few smug individuals, whether there will be any delays getting items to recipient.

 

[kkfcXHzmCc]

It'll cost you more to important than what it's worth to sell. I used to ship stuff from China and after all the costs involved, made very little as a "small time" project. Unless you do it in large quantities, probably won't be worth it.

 

[Linna]

yes, vegetables have greater weight than other products, about the shipping rates, it is a big problem.

 

[dan19900]

Air freight will definitely be too expensive for vegetables.

 

[CornerShopDev]

It's really hard to say on price differences without specific shipments in mind but as a VERY rough estimate it would be approx 4x as much by air. There is no real minimum as such although you will probably pay the same for anything up to around 50-100 Kgs (Again very rough figures).

A freight forwarder will decide on the most economical route so not need to worry about that. You would however have to consider how near the export port will be from you as obviously trucking costs will be involved. This will generally be one of the major international ports.

Thanks this is really useful info, especially regarding economical routes etc as I am very new to all of this, so I guess the next step is to start speaking to some freight forwarding companies regarding what the price is for shipping around 200Kg of veg... need to confirm what veg first, root veg would make the most sense i guess. Anyway i really appreciate your help!!!!! your a star

And at this moment in time we do not know what port delays will happen or when. No impact on your goods or delays in receiving goods could apply. Stuff is apparently being sent at the moment where no one is certain, beyond a few smug individuals, whether there will be any delays getting items to recipient.

yeah i guess I am just small fry where this uncertainty applies, so im just testing the water with importing so im not too worries about this impacting me but it is good to keep in mind, thanks

It'll cost you more to important than what it's worth to sell. I used to ship stuff from China and after all the costs involved, made very little as a "small time" project. Unless you do it in large quantities, probably won't be worth it.

yes, vegetables have greater weight than other products, about the shipping rates, it is a big problem.

Air freight will definitely be too expensive for vegetables.

Thanks for the info everyone, i'm in a bit of a unique position really whereby I run a very small business in the uk that deliveries food direct to customer door (and we're growing very fast), and my cousin is in the farming business. So its a no brainer really, i get the goods for free from him, we go 50/50 on what we sell - (costs/wastage). So between us we have a full supply chain from "seed" to "door delivery". The bit we need to get our heads around is the shelf life etc and making sure we know our numbers.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I would imagine but dont know, that imports would need some checks to make sure you dont import problems regarding soil desese or infenstation of bugs

 

[CornerShopDev]

yep your right, thats we need to test it first with some veg that we buy from regular exporters... and then grow our own to a similar standard. Its quite daunting really how much we need to do, but slowly slowly i guess! We're not in a rush

 

[GraemeL]

Air freight will definitely be too expensive for vegetables.

Not correct.

Look around the supermarket shelves and you will see veg from S America, Africa, India....... and you think its all come by sea?

 

[CVRO]

That's a link with plenty of information that may become irrelevant depending on what happens to Brexit. That's the case as the link is to a Dutch website that explains what you need to do to export vegetables to the EU:

https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/processed-fruit-vegetables-edible-nuts#

Look around it and you'll find the type of vegetables you are considering.

 

[dan19900]

Not correct.

Look around the supermarket shelves and you will see veg from S America, Africa, India....... and you think its all come by sea?

Find me some air freight for less than 50 cents per kilo from India to the UK then and I'll start doing it myself

 

[GirirajD]

So as my handle says, I am in retail and run a typical Grocery CornerShop.

My cousin in India runs my farm (about 50acres), times are tough over there and farmers aren't being looked after very well. He makes a good living by India standards but we'd like to explore some other options when it comes to the produce.

We want to import some of the produce to UK from India. What do I need to do? Can you explain it to me like I am 5 year old? So I can do the research and see if we can start working some thing out. I know it depends on the type of food and a lot this depends on what clients I get... however I quite know what we want to import just yet so in a bit of catch 22 situation but we are going to try small and see if we can build it up!

I really appreciate any advice any one has to give me!

Hi Dev, I have gone through the post. I have shifted to UK very recently and used to work in the JNPT - India's biggest container port. I have the necessary info and I am initiating my business in trade between the two countries. My set up is ready and about to trigger. I suggest we talk and join hands. Please let me know if you are interested and if yes, how can I contact you directly?

 

[QPLAST]

You may start with veg with longer life and ship them via Sea. You may not make any profit on this but will give you the 1st hand information and you can test the water.

Once you know the process , you acn change the quantity and type of veggies.


Good luck ,
Deepak