APEDA Signs MoU with Lulu Hypermarket for Export Promotion of Millets in GCC Countries

In collaboration with Lulu Group, an international retail hypermarket chain that runs stores and shopping malls throughout Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India, and the Far East, APEDA seeks to promote millet products and value-added products globally.

According to the agreement, by obtaining millet from farmer producer organizations, farmer producer companies, women entrepreneurs, and startups, the Lulu Group will facilitate promotional activities for millet products and enable the nation to display millet and its value-added, ready-to-eat products in international retail chains.

APEDA will make it easier for manufacturers to send Lulu Hypermarkets a variety of millet product samples so they can display them in their various stores. In collaboration with Lulu Group, APEDA will also help with product labelling so that it complies with import regulations in various nations. APEDA is organizing export promotion activities for millets at 16 international trade fairs, including Gulfood 2023, as part of its calendar of events to support the International Year of Millets (IYoM) 2023.

Between April and November 2022–2023, India exported millets worth USD 46.05 million, with the UAE being the main recipient of these exports. APEDA's strategy to encourage the export of millets and its value-added products to West Asian nations will be made easier by the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding. This will help the organization reach its overall goal of USD 100 million for millets and value-added product exports by 2025.

In the presence of Dr. M. Angamuthu, Chairman of APEDA, Dr. Aman Puri, Consul General of India, and M.A. Yusuff Ali, Chairman & Managing Director of LuLu Group, the MoU was signed by Dr. Tarun Bajaj, Director APEDA, and Salim VI, Chief Operating Officer of LuLu Group.

The mission and vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to promote millets in the global market, APEDA Chairman M Angamuthu said during his speech. To promote Indian millets internationally, the APEDA team is prepared to offer all necessary assistance to exporters, millet growers, women FPOs, etc.

Angamuthu emphasized the importance of working together with buyers, sellers, and producers to advance the export of millets and millets' value-added products, saying, "It's a good opportunity to boost our exports as India has very distinctive traditional varieties of millets that are adored by health-conscious people. The export of millets will contribute to farmers' earning more money.

APEDA also plans to facilitate the participation of various Indian stakeholders in some of the important food shows, Buyer Seller Meets, and Road Shows in South Africa, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Sydney, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.

APEDA has planned to exhibit Indian millets and their value-added products at a number of international platforms, including Foodex, the Seoul Food & Hotel Show, the Saudi Agro Food, the Fine Food Show in Sydney (Australia), the Food & Beverages Show in Belgium, the BioFach and Anuga Food Fair in Germany, the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, etc. By 2025, the millets market is anticipated to increase from its current market value of over USD 9 billion to over USD 12 billion.

Additionally, the government is encouraging new businesses to promote the export of value-added Ready to Eat (RTE) and Ready to Serve (RTS) products like noodles, pasta, breakfast cereal mix, biscuits, cookies, snacks, and sweets. According to DGCIS data, India's millets exports increased by 8.02% in the fiscal year 2021–2022 to 159,332.16 metric tonnes from 147,501.08 metric tonnes during the same period the previous year.