Indian apple importers, representatives of the restaurant and hotel industry, people associated with food processing and journalists were present. The guests of honour were C. Rajasekhar, Director of the Department of International Cooperation of Indian States in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India, and Amit Lohani, President of the Forum of Indian Food Importers – an organisation which cooperates with the National Agricultural Support Centre, as well as with Polish exporters.

In addition to the presentation of products, the Embassy organised a culinary show. Polish chefs Łukasz Konik and Michał Soliwoda presented the possibilities of using apples in sweet and savoury dishes.

The event gathered a lot of interest from the Delhi food industry. Additionally, during the National Independence Day organised the day before, the Post presented the Polish apple offer to Mrs Meenakshi Lekhi – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of India.

Apples by far dominate the structure of agri-food exports to India. In 2020, Polish exporters recorded sales of EUR 11.3 million at the Indian market, of which apples accounted for around 39% (around EUR 4.4 million). Due to the significant decline in agri-food exports to India, mainly caused by the Covid pandemic (in 2019, exports in this category amounted to EUR 18 million), it is first necessary to bring back the previous numbers through a more intensive promotion of Polish apples and, as a result, to encourage local importers and fruit distributors to import them. According to the agreements made during discussions held at the event, Indian importers are planning to increase orders next year.

The product offer of Polish companies was presented at the stands in the form of fresh fruit and samples of products and promotional materials delivered from Poland as part of the forwarding service organised by the National Agricultural Support Centre. The following companies were involved in the organisation of Polish Apple Night: Basstion Fruit Sp. z o.o., Bialski Owoc Sp. z o.o., EWA-BIS Sp. z o.o., Genesis Fresh, Stowarzyszenie Sady Grójeckie, KGW Dębnowolanki, Warecki Szlak Jabłkowy, Tuszyńscy Miody z Tradycjami, Nasza Tłocznia.