Fruit traders in Maharashtra's Vashi halt apple imports from Turkey
The traders at the wholesale Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Maharashtra's Vashi have decided to stop importing apples from Turkey, citing the current diplomatic situation.
The development comes in wake of Turkey's open support for Pakistan amid recent tensions between India and its neighbour.
The APMC market receives hundreds of containers of high quality Turkish apples, the supplies of which begin from January and last till the middle of the year.
Vijay Bhende, a fruit trader, said that they won't be doing business with a country opposed to India.
'India imported 11.76 lakh tonne of Turkish apples last year with the value being over ₹1,000 crore. We do a lot of business with Turkish apples in our market every year as Net Marketing Margin (MMR) is huge. They are very popular because of their sweetness. However, the recent attacks on India have changed the scenario. We cannot be doing business with a country that is opposed to India', Bhende said.
Bhende added that traders have also collectively taken a decision to do the same.
'No more orders will be placed for imports. It will have a huge impact on Turkey and teach them a lesson', he said.
Also Read: Pune traders boycott Turkish apples, kickstart 'Ban Turkey' movement amid Indo-Pak tensions
Traders have instead, decided to import more apples from South Africa and Washington.
However, a few traders said they will have to sell the Turkish apples as they had placed the orders earlier.
'Some of us have already paid for the imports of orders that had been placed earlier. We will have to take their deliveries and somehow sell them. Else, we will suffer huge losses', said another trader on condition of anonymity.
With large consignments of Turkish apples already in the market, a trader said, 'The trend now is to sell the existing stock as South African apples to bypass the boycott and the general reluctance by the retailers to purchase Turkish apples.'
However, he pointed that it won't work as regular retailers can identify Turkish apples which are sweeter than those from South Africa.
'Traders have even had to lower the price of the Turkish apples to match that of other imported apples to sell them along with them', the trader said.
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