7 steps & 4 pro tips to become a successful fruit & vegetable exporter

Export is a perfect track to follow to develop. It plays a significant role in hiking up the economy of a country. India is a developing country, also known as an agrarian country as above than 60% of its population relies upon agriculture for a living. The fact, India exports the vast array of good or agriculture products worldwide.

The Indian foreign trade is regulated by the Foreign Trade Policy governed by the central government of India. If you have planned for fruits or vegetable export from India , you need to aware of steps to be followed to experience the right delivery at the right time.

7 steps to become a successful fruit & vegetable exporter

1. Establish an Export Firm or a Company

   To begin your business of Export Fruits And Vegetables From India , you first need to set you an export firm or business. It may be a partnership firm, an individual business, or a joint-stock company. If you will take a proprietary firm (individual business), then this will be more workable. Whatever body will you decide, you have to set it as per prescribed procedure with an enthralling name and logo.

   Useful tips to set up an export firm

   1. Designate an attractive name to your export firm like A to Z Exports, Fresh Fruits International business, etc.
   2. Apply for a company PAN card. It is mandatory to get IEC Number.
   3. Design or create a company logo that must reflect your business goods and services.
   4. Get registered with a local municipal or government authority to avail the Shop Act License.
   5. Open a bank account either in government or reputed private sector banks like HDFS Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, etc.
   6. Get registered for VAT or ST or CST.
   7. Thoroughly learn about import or export rules and regulations.

2. Apply for IEC number (Importer-Exporter Code)

   To execute import and export business, getting the IEC number is a mandatory 10-digit number which can get with a single PAN.

   How to get IEC Number?

   1. Visit DGFT website i.e. http://dgft.gov.in
   2. Open the Online IEC Application to submit the required documents
   3. Pay the application fee of INR 500 through credit/ debit card or net banking.
   4. The application must be digitally signed by Managing Partner/ Proprietor/ Designated Partner / Chief Executive/ Managing Trustee/Karta.
   5. Notification and availability of IEC card are done via the official email id only.

   Kindly note that only a single IEC number is required to export any number of goods. Besides, in a case, you need to modify your IEC number, it can be done online also.

3. Apply for Registration-cum-Membership Certificate (RCMC)

   Export Promotion Council is a concern authority to obtain RCMC related to the products or fruits or vegetables you are going to export. RCMC is required for vegetable or fruits export from India .
   Kindly note that to apply for RCMC, you must take the assistance of selected EPC’s.

4. Selection of products (fruits and vegetables) for export and also find their ITC (HS) Codes

   The fact, the number of products exported from India is very big. The products you are going to export must be classified accordingly to international standards and for this ITC (HS) Codes are required.

   How to find ITC (HS) Codes for a product you need to export?

   1. Open DGFT website and select the option ‘Policies’
   2. Download “ITC (HS) 2020” and find appropriate Section.
   3. Then look at the appropriate heading and finally find the 8-digit ITC (HS) Code.

5. Selection of overseas market

   You have to be careful while selecting the overseas markets as this will hike up your ROI. The sources you need to get the information about the overseas markets are:

   1. Read global surveys
   2. Study the EPCs Market Reports
   3. Read international newspapers, news magazines, New Letters, etc.

6. Finding out buyers

   After researching for the overseas market, the next process will be to search buyers via web browsing, buyer-seller meets, B2B portals, etc. This will assist you to get the good buyers easily.

7. Price and costing

   Fixing for the prices of the products is a very essential step as it drags the attention of buyers towards your products. You can include the prices of Insurance & Freight (CIF) , Free on Board (FOB), Cost & Freight (C&F), etc. before finalizing the net cost.

Few tools & influencer you must explore if you are in Export business:

1. Freight rate explorer

   There are many Ocean/air freight rate providing applications or Companies who help Exporters to find multiple shipping line rates instantly, but there is an google chrome plugin of Boxnbiz , it’s a which makes this process much simpler.
   Freight Calculator: Download

2. Container tracking application

   Having a container tracking application is a must have thing for Exporters today. This gives exact visibility on their container exports. This makes much easier to update buyer and plan money rotation accordingly.
   Searates Container tracking

3. Export Finance company

   Get In touch with a trade finance company which can help you in scaling your business, one of them is Drip capital it’s a fintech company focused on solving the working capital problem for emerging market SME exporters by leveraging data and technology.
   They are paperless & get you credit within 24 hours.
   Dripcapital

4. Get a coach/mentor

   Having a mentor is the secret sauce to win this game, International business is complex and risky affair at times. Having someone who can give you a proper hand holding can become icing on the cake, Mr. Paresh Solanki is a renowned subject matter expert and can help you in various parts of your journey. He also has a YouTube channel where he shares quick & relevant videos for exporters.
   Youtube : Paresh Solanki - International Export Import Trainer