Coimbatore: The city-based Terra Agro Technologies, which exports dried vegetables, is planning a major foray into the domestic market soon. The Rs 5-crore turnover company will soon launch fresh vegetables under the Terra Fresh brand, apart from fine-ground medicinal aromatic plants and spices. The move is expected to increase the companys domestic sales from the current level of 5 per cent. Presently, in the domestic market, Terra Agro sells dried vegetables to corporates like Hindustan Lever, Nestle and Best Foods.

A Rs 48-crore project, Terra Agro is a 100-per cent EOU promoted by Pricol vice-chairman Vijay Mohan. The company mainly exports its hot-air dehydrated vegetables like tomatoes, cauliflower, red beetroot, paprika, spinach and carrot in flakes, diced, granules and powder forms to markets like the US, Canada, Argentina and the UK. It also makes canned babycorn and gherkins. The vegetables are grown in the companys own farms.

Speaking about the companys main product, dried vegetables, Terra Agro member (project team) S Ramanathan says: "The Indian market is yet to warm up. Three years down the line, the demand for dehydrated vegetables might touch a figure of 30,000 tonnes per annum (tpa)."

With ready-to-eat foods gaining slow-but-steady acceptance among Indians, dehydrated vegetables have a good growth potential. India ranks second in the world in vegetable production, with 88 million tpa; only a negligible percentage of that is processed and used in manufacturing ready-to-eat foods like noodles, biryani and curry mixes.

What worries Indian exporters is the Chinese factor. Says Terra Agro general manager (operations) Girija Shankar: "In the manufacturing sector, the Chinese factor is a major issue that should be tackled. The Chinese are selling their vegetables at $2.8 per kg, whereas our prices hover around $4 per kg."