Plagued by drought, a fragmented food system and unprecedented growth, India is looking for allies to feed its masses.

And that’s good news for Canadian food companies reports countryguide.ca.

Market opportunities range from five million tonnes per year of pulses to shipments of maple syrup, says Canadian counselor Parthi Muthukumarasamy.

“Canola oil could carve itself an incredible market share in India,” said Muthukumarasamy, a specialist in agriculture and agri-food at the High Commission of Canada.

“The Indians are crazy for red lentils… potential sales are incredible,” says Lance Walker, head of Lazer Enterprises Inc. in Borden, Sask.

Walker was working in a trade show booth as he told me this, one of the representatives of the 23 Canadian businesses that were participating at the 31st Aahar Food Hospitality Trade Fair held in New Delhi recently.

According to the World Bank, India’s GDP growth is expected to end up at 7.9 per cent this year, enough to make it the fastest growing economy on the planet, even outpacing the Chinese dragon with its 7.0 per cent.

Although India is the world’s largest pulse producer, El Niño weather patterns helped set off consecutive droughts in 2014 and 2015 that have put the country into a serious deficit for this vital staple food.

India produces around 18 million tonnes of pulses but they need 22 to 23 million tonnes every year

As a result, India needs 5.5 million tonnes of pulses, and it needs them more or less now.

In 2015, Canada sourced 40 per cent of India’s pulse imports, mainly in red lentils and yellow peas. From $900 million in 2014, our pulse exports to India jumped to $1.5 billion in 2015, marking a 60 per cent increase.

India imports US$14 billion in vegetable oil per year which makes the country the world’s largest importer. Currently it mainly buys palm oil (65 per cent market share) from Indonesia, soy oil from Argentina (25 per cent) and sunflower oil from Ukraine (15 per cent).

“India is one of the countries that has the highest incidence of diabetes and cholesterol,” says Muthukumarasamy, who is working closely with the Canola Council of Canada, based in Winnipeg. “If we promote its health benefits, canola oil could carve itself an incredible market share in India.”

Although India’s society is generally strongly opposed to GMOs, canola oil has been approved because, unlike the plant, the oil itself does not contain GM proteins.

Antoine Pfister told marketguida.ca that he has a dream. “Imagine if every gulab jamun would be served with maple syrup,” he says.

Pfister was hired three years ago to develop the Indian market on behalf of the Quebec co-operative, Citadelle, the world’s largest maple syrup producer and exporter.

Quebec co-op Citadelle sees a world class market for maple syrup and much more.

Gulab jamun is a small, fried doughnut served with syrup, and Indians crave them. There isn’t a neighbourhood in New Delhi that doesn’t have its sweet shop. The Indian tiger has a sweet tooth!

“We are looking at the high-end markets in the megacities such as Dehli, Mumbai and Bangalore,” explains Pfister, who is as passionate about maple syrup as Walker is about his lentils and canola oil. To Pfister, maple syrup is a super-food full of health-building natural antioxidants.

India’s economic boom has fostered the growth of a new, youthful middle class that travels and that is much more health conscious than their parents. Current surveys put this group at 350 million consumers, which is larger than the U.S. population.

Muthukumarasamy sees opportunities for a number of Canadian products in India such as malting barley, rapeseed mustard, red kidney beans and even seafood such as fresh salmon, which is entering now from Norway and Scotland. But, he warns, “Canadian companies have to understand and commit themselves to India.”

India is a price-sensitive market, he points out, but success also hinges on developing personal relationships.

Another company that has made inroads into India’s food supply system is

McCain Foods.

McCain has been established in India since 1990. The company has been growing its own potato varieties in India and processing them in its plant located in the state of Gujarat.

Jacques Pomerleau, president of Canada Pork International, said  his group is seeking a free trade agreement with India that would allow Canadian pork to enter India, mainly by eliminating non-tariff barriers.

A Canada Pork International mission is scheduled next fall with the help of Canada’s agriculture counsellor, Parthi Muthukumarasamy, to promote Canadian pork in high-end hotel chains in major cities.

Meanwhile, a new report says India's food system is largely unorganised and highly fragmented, underlining that the country must reform government procurement, tariff and tax policies affecting urban food delivery to feed its growing cities.

The prestigious Chicago Council on Global Affairs in its report said that substantial public investments are needed to expand and increase the quality of storage, handling and transportation infrastructure.

It said that India's food system is largely unorganised and highly fragmented, inhibiting large-scale procurement, distribution, and retail sales.

Authored by Andrea Durkin, the report 'Investing to Nourish India's Cities' recommended that India should reform government procurement, tariff and tax policies affecting urban food delivery.

To counter the food security threat, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making food processing a national priority.

He is improving railways, roadways, and air navigation, and he is inviting local and foreign companies to invest in 42 mega food parks that will incorporate processing facilities and modern cold storage.

Ahead of Modi’s visit to a number of African countries in the first week of July, a delegation of senior government officials will visit to look at ways to improve the scope of contract farming, and the importing of pulses.

Modi is scheduled to visit four African nations - Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya and Mozambique.

The government is also working on both short-term and long-term strategies to control the rising prices of food grains, including pulses.

Exploring the option of contract farming with countries like Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi is a long-term strategy.