Company: BERRI LIMITED

State: Brisbane, Queensland

Sector: AGRIBUSINESS

Berri Limited, Australia's largest producer of fruit juices, began
taking an interest in the Indian market in the late 1990s and started
exporting packaged juices there in late 1999. Berri now holds a 5 per cent
market share of the Indian packaged juice market and this is growing at
around 30 per cent per annum. Major markets centre around the largest
cities in the northern, western and southern regions.

After deciding to focus on overseas opportunities, further falls in
tariffs on Indian manufactured foodstuffs aroused Berri's interest in
India. Berri is pleased with its progress so far, despite effective
tariffs on fruit juices remaining over 40 per cent, complex state sales
tax structures and poor local transport infrastructure and logistics.
Berri stress patience is needed when developing relationships and warns
against regarding these as simply ' business partnerships'. Expertise
in dealing with a complex bureaucracy, a willingness to tackle
considerable paperwork and a good understanding of the market
opportunities is crucial; it points out poor research and short term aims
have caused even the largest multinational food corporations to fail in
India.

Berri believes important structural shifts, including steadily rising
incomes, a growing number of higher income individuals, developing
supermarket chains and an increasing recognition of the benefits of
packaged and processed foods mean its future in the Indian market is
bright.

Source: Berri Limited, 2001.