Sweetness and Curvature

 This piece on Sahyadri Grapes was a revelation to me. 

It appeared on on ThePlate, an interesting publication I had not come across earlier; the style of writing was chatty and engaging and I learnt a whole lot of things about farmer-producer companies that are setting new benchmarks for the production and export of fruits and vegetables.

I was particularly surprised to learn about the barriers faced by Indian exporters in getting their products cleared, especially in the European markets. While some of these barriers, such as limits to pesticide residue, seem quite sensible from the point of view of health and wellbeing of the consumers, some others seem completely whimsical, bordering on Euromyths. The EU, it seems, sets standards on the curvature of bananas and limits the sweetness of fruits imported into their common market.

What exactly are these standards? Why were they adopted?

Curvature of Bananas: European Commission regulation 2257/94 decrees that bananas in general should be “free from malformation or abnormal curvature”. Those sold as “extra class” must be perfect, “class 1” can have “slight defects of shape” and “class 2” can have full-scale “defects of shape.” This standard applies to bananas of the varieties (cultivars) of Musa (AAA) spp., Cavendish and Gros Michel subgroups.

Far from being a whimsical, curvature of a banana seems to be a good indicator healthy growth - the amount and sunlight the plant was exposed to during its growth phase, and the resulting distribution of hormones.

Sweetness of Fruits: The Brix scale is used to measure the sweetness of fruits such as grapes. Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs. 

According to the Plate article, "..the Brix content for grapes to Europe must range from 16 to 20 degrees, whereas the Indian palate prefers sugar content 24 degrees or higher". The relevant EU regulations however seems to set only minimum limits for sweetness, ranging from 12-14 degrees on the Brix scale.

There have been reports of export consignments getting rejected for exceeding limits on pesticide content in the fruits, but have there been cases where a rejection has happened due to excessive curvature or sweetness? 

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* Why are bananas bent? - https://uniquetimes.org/the-curious-case-of-curved-bananas-why-are-they-bent/

* https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/bendy-bananas-why-are-they-staying-eu-rules-b1080788.html

* https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2016/05/12/to-properly-explain-the-eus-bendy-bananas-rules-yes-theyre-real/?sh=4bcf67a86fc9

* https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/fresh-fruit-vegetables/table-grapes/market-entry

* https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2023-02/FFV10Carrots_2021_e.pdf

* Measuring sweetness - https://www.refractometer.eu/scales-for-sweetness-measuring

* https://www.yara.co.uk/crop-nutrition/grapes/managing-grape-sweetness/

* https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52020XC0615(01)&rid=1

* Chaptalisation - process of adding extra sugar to grapes! - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaptalization

* https://www.freshpoint.com/news/understanding-brix-is-a-higher-number-always-better/

* APEDA Guidelines (2007) - https://apeda.gov.in/apedawebsite/Grapenet/regu_fresh_grapes08.pdf

* Banana export guidelines - https://www.corpseed.com/knowledge-centre/export-banana-from-india

Codling Moth - True or False?

 There is an insect called the False Codling Moth - true or false?

True!

An insect that goes by this name is now at the centre of an an international trade dispute between South Africa and the European Union. The False Codling Moth (henceforth FCM) infects a range of fruits, especially citrus and is perfectly adapted itself to Global Warming (unlike the original Codling Moth) and a range of climatic zones.  It is the fear of FCM infestation that has recently driven the EU to put up stricter measures to prevent its spread into Europe.

About 3.2 million cartons of citrus worth about 605 million rand ($36 million) is now rotting in European ports because of a change in rules that happened even while the fruit containers were on their way to the northern hemisphere. In face of a growing apprehension that its own horticulture may be affected by this moth, EU wants all citrus consignments from South Africa to go through a freeze treatment - an expensive add-on in the supply chain that makes the exports more expensive, and perhaps economically unviable for the African farmers. 

This is not very different from the dilemma faced by Indian mango exporters. Different  countries demand different post-harvest treatments before they allow imports of mangos - hot water treatment, vapour heat treatment or irradiation. Japan, UK and EU countries do not allow import of mango without vapour heat treatment - again an expensive process for small farmers. 

So ultimately, the irony - countries that produces that produce the best variety of citrus or mangos are unable to export it to the very markets that pay the best rates.

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* SA oranges to EU  - https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/tonnes-of-fruit-stranded-in-eu-south-africa-battle-of-oranges/ 

* Constraints in mango exports from India -  http://indianecologicalsociety.com/society/wp-content/themes/ecology/volume_pdfs/1651904681.pdf

* https://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/agri/conservation-ecology/ipm/Documents/FCM%20fact%20sheet%20ENG.pdf

* https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/managing-fruit-fly-in-mango/article7130611.ece

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_codling_moth

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codling_moth

Hi Honey!

Honey is often refered to as "the only food that never spoils". There have been (unverified) claims of archeologists digging out 2000-5000 year-old jars of honey from sites in Egypt and Georgia. And today specialized honey's are counted among the most expensive foods in the world.

In 2014, a small consignment of Elvish honey from remote caves in Turkey sold in France for about USD 6,800/kg!

How does India fare in the world of honey exports?

According to APEDA, India exported 29,578.52 MT of natural honey to the world for Rs. 535.07 crore during the year of 2014-15. This comes to just ₹ 180/kg ($ 2.7)!

It is worth noting that we export almost no honey to Europe. In 2014, the European Union imported more than 315,000 tonnes of honey, most of which came from China. Despite all the barriers erected by EU, there does not seem to be much of a cost advantage here. Chinese honey costs just ₹ 20/kg more than Indian exports.

The amazing thing that emergers from these numbers is that the export value of Indian honey is far below the cost at which it retails within India!

Why do Indian exporters sell honey to the Arabs for ₹ 180/kg when they can get ₹ 600 to 900/kg in the domestic retail market? Or was I missing something here?

According to my friend H, the missing element here is Volumes. When it comes to getting agriculture commodities to the markets, one of the most important things to consider is scale of operations. Just as Indian honey is exported for a fraction of its domstic price, Basmati rice too earns our exporters pretty thin margins compared to the domestic market.


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REFERENCES & LINKS

The Chemistry of Honey - http://www.compoundchem.com/2014/08/21/chemistryofhoney/

10 most expensive foods in the world - http://www.worldfoodist.com/2013/01/25/the-worlds-most-expensive-foods/

Oddity Central - most expensive honey in the world - http://www.odditycentral.com/foods/worlds-most-expensive-honey-costs-as-much-as-a-small-car.html
- Elvish honey from Turkey - $ 6,800 / kg

World's top-5 honey - http://www.justfoodnow.com/2010/12/22/honey-the-five-best-in-the-world/

BeezHoney India - http://www.beezhoney.com/

Yemeni  Hone - http://www.honey-foryourhealth.com/the-worlds-most-expensive-honey-and-why-you-should-run-to-buy-this---yemeni-honey.html
Yemeni Sidr Honey - quality page - http://www.yemensidrhoney.com/index.php/quality-safety

USA - honey.com - http://www.honey.com/
Wikipedia on Honey - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey

- Certifications: HACCP (Hazard Analysis for Critical Control Points) - http://www.22000-tools.com/what-is-haccp.html
- ISO 22000 - for food safety - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_22000

- (IT, 2010) - Contaminated Honey in India -- http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/unhealthy-bitter-truths-about-honey-in-india/1/112833.html
. Only Hitkari was found to be free of antibiotics

Trade Stats - Honey in Europe (2015) - https://www.cbi.eu/sites/default/files/trade-statistics-europe-honey-2015.pdf

- APEDA Honey exports - http://apeda.gov.in/apedawebsite/SubHead_Products/Natural_Honey.htm
. exported 29,578.52 MT of natural honey to the world for the worth of Rs. 535.07 crore during the year of 2014-15.

- Myth-buster - no honey in ancient Egyptian tombs - http://bumblehive.com/honey-was-not-found-in-pharaohs-tombs/