- July 15, 2019
- Posted by: Anish
- Category: Event
The strategy of increasing the volume of shipments of Yerba Mate Argentina to India continues to take firm steps, starting with the task begun towards the end of 2016 with an exploratory work commissioned by the INYM to the consultancy “Karavan Advisory Enterprises”. “In India we are taking the first steps that we believe are the right ones. Today we had a meeting with the representative of the consultancy and we were adjusting details of the marketing plan to install our product, “outlined on Wednesday the president of INYM, engineer Alberto Re.
In February of this year the initiative of Argentine yerbateros received a strong backing from the President of the Nation, Mauricio Macri, when his tour of India coincided with the talks and product presentations organized by the INYM in New Delhi and Mumbai. In the framework of his official tour, the Chief Executive had a meeting with the yerbatera delegation and made available his work team; particularly in administrative and bureaucratic matters related to the commercial exchange between India and Argentina. “Within a few days the Secretary of Agriculture is going to visit India to close what was started at that time and open an office, a base of operations for the Argentine agricultural and industrial sector,” the INYM president anticipated.
To date, there are already four companies that began to venture into that market and it is expected that others may be added, as the marketing plan devised by the INYM is paying off. Anyway, the sector is aware that winning new consumers is a task that demands time; especially abroad. “To have an idea of how difficult it is to open a new market, we must remember the case of Syria (the main destination of Yerba Mate Argentina), where work began in the 1980s with the first contacts. It took many years for that reality to crystallize, “said engineer Re.
For his part, the representative of the consultancy “Karavan Advisory Enterprises” agreed that one of the challenges is to adapt yerba mate to the palate of the Indians. In that sense, he stressed that the product runs with a great advantage, since in that country there is a high consumption of tea and infusions. “The possibilities for mate are, of course, in the form of hot infusions or also as cold drinks under the ‘ready-to-drink format’,” said Anish Narang, after the presentation made to the INYM Board.
In 2016 the INYM commissioned that firm to study what could be the meeting point between what yerba mate could offer and what Indian consumers were waiting for. A work of sensory analysis was developed under the methodology of “focus group”, whose members were given to try different infusions that contained yerba mate, but without warning them of the presence of the product. The report highlighted in all situations the responses were positive. The preferences of the Indians were oriented to yerba mate blends that combined lemon grass, lavender and rose petals; among other mixtures.
“Later we did a market research that served as a basis for a program that we carry out with the companies and that consists of financial support so that they can develop their business cases. The objective is that they can enter that market with a product adapted to new consumers, “said Carlos Coppoli, Deputy Manager of Marketing and Communication at INYM. In that sense, he explained that India is an interesting destination for Yerba Mate Argentina not only because of its population of 1,250 million inhabitants but it is also an avid market for novelties. “In the analysis we have done,” he said, “we detected a huge potential because of the size of its market and because, in addition, we saw that other infusions that were not consumed a decade ago are now a success.