Canada's agri-food and seafood exports to India were valued at C$1.2 billion in 2016. Top exports were dried peas, lentils, canola oil, chickpeas, and non-durum wheat.
Video transcript
[Indian themed music starts.]
[The video opens a view of the Taj mahal in the morning in India. A red bar appears from the left. The title of the video appears on the bar.]
Text on screen: Canadian Agri-Food Trade Commissioners
[The text disappears and is replaced by new text.
Text on screen: Market Opportunity Mexico
Voice of Parthiban Muthukumarasamy: India has a large population, has 1.3 billion people.
[The red bar, text and image disappear from the screen as the Taj mahal image dissolves to pan of map of India with a magnified glass in the foreground]
Three hundred million of that are middle class people...
[Cut to slow motion shot of people walking on a street in India.]
[Cut to a shot of Parthiban Muthukumarasamy. He is standing against a white background and speaking slightly off camera.]
...and by 2025, India will be...
[Cut to time-lapse of traffic on a busy sea side street in Mumbai India.]
... third largest economy in the world.
[Cut to a shot of Parthiban.]
Text on screen: Parthiban Muthukumarasamy, Trade Commissioner
My name is Parthiban Muthukumarasamy. I am the Agriculture Trade Commissioner posted in High Commission of Canada in New Delhi, India.
You can call me Parthi for short.
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[Different upbeat Indian themed music fades in.Fade up to video of city shot from high above hills. Cut to time-lapse of local Indian Market at night]
[Cut to animation of globe turning with networking links moving from one country to another.]
Text on screen: Trade Opportunities
Canadian companies have tremendous opportunity in India...
[Cut to a large cargo vessel on the sea. Then layering over the ship are close up images of a soy stalk, the yellow flowers of a canola plant, barley, mustard, and oat plants.]
...to export pulses, canola, malting barley, mustard, flax, and oats.
[Cut to shot of Pathiban.]
In addition, Canadian companies can also look for opportunities...
[Cut to two farmers interacting with each other while using a digital tablet in a field with dairy cows]
... in animal genetics...
[Cut to dairy cows eating in barn.]
...agriculture machinery,
[Cut to dairy cows attached to milking machinery.]
...and technology transfer.
[Cut to milk turning in large holding tank. Cut to large passenger airplane flying over head]
Text on screen: Canadian Specialty Products
Indians are travelling a lot more now than before,
[Dissolve to close up shot of a plate of gourmet food being garnished with a purple floral herb]
...so they are exposed to foreign cuisines,
[Cut to shot of a chef mixing herbal ingredients in a small silver bowl]
... specialty products from all over the world,
[Cut to close up of several long metal skewers covered in different types of meats cooking over a charcoal barbeque.]
... and they are willing to taste new products,
[Cut to Indian chef fanning the charcoal barbeque]
and they're able to afford...
[Cut to pan across several colourful spices on display at a market.]
... specialty products that are much better quality...
[Cut to a shot of Parthiban]
... and that are unique in certain way. So certainly there is good opportunity for Canadian specialty products and gourmet products.
[Cut to time-lapse of large fork lifts moving cargo at t shipping port]
If you want to export processed food products into India,
[Cut to areal view of large city in India.]
Text on screen: Start in Large Cities
...you would obviously target the large cities first,
[Cut to another areal shot of a different city in India]
... try to gain market share in those large cities,
[Cut to sunset shot of Taj Mahal]
... such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Calcutta,
[Dissolve to shot of subway system in India]
... and then expand slowly to the tier two cities,
[Dissolve to Indian man on bicycle in the countryside.]
...and then to the rural areas.
[Cut to shot of Parthiban]
So your first focus is the large cities that have huge population.
[Cut to shot of Indian City Street with motorcycles and other transportation.]
Text on screen: Tier Two Cities
[Cut to another city street in India with lots of people and traffic]
India has come up with a new policy on developing the tier two cities. They call them smart cities.
[Cut to pan of several apartment complexes being constructed.]
So they have plans to develop a hundred smart cities in the next three to four years.
[Dissolve to aerial shot of large populated city]
And these cities present a huge opportunity because...
[Dissolve to another aerial shot of a very populated city surrounded by mountains]
... it is growing at a rapid pace than the other part of India.
[Dissolve to Indian market with colourful stalls and people carrying baskets on their heads Cut to a very lush rural landscape shot of a tea field in India.]
Text on screen: Products in Demand
India's a large agriculture exporter themselves.
[Cut to women working in tea field.]
They produce a lot of commodities...
[Dissolve to close up of three women's hands holding tealeaves.]
...and they trade a lot of commodities.
[Cut to shot of Parthiban.]
The two things they need,
[Cut to close up of soy seeds falling into large bin of seeds.]
...that are in demand in India are pulses...
[Cut to pan of hand taking a bottle of vegetable oil off a shelf in a grocery store.]
...and vegetable oils.
[Cut to shot of Parthiban]
So Canada has both to offer.
[Cut to cargo train in rural India going by.]
Text on screen: Challenges
The challenges you will face in India is...
[Cut to fork lift moving large cargo containers on train]
...the high duties and tariffs.
[Cut to shot of Parthiban.]
And also you need a lot of patience if you need to work with India, and build trust with the partners and importers.
Trust is very critical in India.
[Cut to two businessmen in the countryside looking at a laptop]
My advice to the Canadian companies is to partner with local importers...
[Cut to tilt down from sky to wheat field]
…that have good logistics, that understands the regulations,
[Cut to close up of maple syrup being poured into a bottle in a factory]
…that understands the market. That includes both...
[Cut to India woman shopping in grocery store.]
Text on screen: Kirana
...the modern stores and the small kirana, mom and pop stores.
[Cut to shot of lush tiered crops in Indian countryside]
And they're able to cover the breadth...
[Cut to aerial shot of a large India city at night]
...and length of the country.
[Cut to a shot of earth from space, zooming quickly into the country of India]
[Cut to time-lapse of busy street in India]
The market could be overwhelming for some Canadian companies.
[Cut to shot of Indian cityscape with water and boats in foreground]
It's a large country...
[Cut to slow motion of many people walking on sidewalk in busy city]
with 29 different states, several languages,
[Cut to close up of beautiful smiling Indian woman]
...several cultures,
[Cut to close up of Indian cuisine being stirred and cooked in a frying pan]
... and several food habits.
[Cut to a table with several different types of Indian cuisine on it.]
So for a Canadian company that is new,
[Cut to Indian woman dancing and man drumming on beach at sunset.]
...they need to focus on understanding the culture, understanding the market,
[Cut to time-lapse of crowd of people in the evening at the Ganges River, India]
and it takes time...
[Cut to time-lapse of India Gate in New Delhi at night]
...to adapt to India.
[Cut to shot of Parthiban.]
We provide market intelligence, market information, and connect Canadian companies to the right partners in India to do business.
[Cut to white background.]
Text on screen: Tradecommissioner.gc.ca
[The text on screen changes.]
Text on screen: Contact Us Today
[Cut to the animated Canada word mark]
Text on screen: (c) Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (2017)
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