Dehydrated onion processors look beyond India

RAJKOT: The dehydrated onion processors at Mahuva, which is the largest such cluster in India, are expanding their capacities significantly to meet the fast growing global demand.

Many units are increasing their production capacity in order to fulfil the increasing demand of cold-weather countries like Germany, France, the US, the UK, South Africa and a few European countries.

Most of the units are procuring the commodities from nearby areas of Mahuva, near Bhavnagar, and process it to cater to foreign customers. Tushar Patel of Pooja Dehydration Foods says, “The demand has been rising at 20% which is mainly coming from European countries and we will expand our daily manufacturing capacity from 6 metric tonnes to 10 metric tonnes within a year or so.”

Another manufacturer, Aliraza Badami of Murtuza Foods has decided to expand his daily capacity of 10 metric tonnes to 12 metric tonnes within few months. He says, “The season is on and we are expecting few more orders from foreign countries.”

Mahuva is famous for its white onion production and has caught the attention of cold-weather nations for their spice requirements. Out of about 30 dehydrated units in Mahuva, most of them are engaged into exports to major FMCG companies like Nestle, HLL and a few domestic spice companies, too. Most of these units are ISO certified and are manufacturing products like chopped and minced flakes, granules and powder to serve for various consumption purposes.

The entry of multinational companies into snack food business has also pushed the demand for dehydrated onions. “Some companies are likely to come during April-May to place order for good quality products,” says Iqbal Hussain of Vadiwala Dehydration.

The boom has also seen a few units from surrounding parts going in for expansion. Jamngar-based KK Seth of Oceanic Foods is all set to expand his capacity four-fold to 8,000 metric tonnes per year from the current 2,000 metric tonnes by next year end.

However, lower production in onions this year has not deterred these units from expanding their capacities. The prices of raw onions have jumped more than three times due to a 60% drop in production this year.