For the first time ever, Indian grapes will find a place on the shelves of Europe’s largest retailers this year. CNBC-TV18′s Vivin Mathew reports that this could open the floodgates for much bigger deals in the future.

Grapes in Nashik will soon find their way onto the shelves of retail giants. For the first time this year, Carrefour and Tesco are sourcing grapes directly from Indian companies. French giant Carrefour is taking about 150 tonnes of seedless Thomson grapes while British retailer Tesco is buying about 250 tonnes.

Indian grapes have been available in European markets earlier, but this is the first time that a big retailer will be stocking them. The reason this is so unique is that European retailers have the highest standards of quality checking in the world before they certify a company as a qualified supplier.

First, the fruit must contain no more than a negligible amount of pesticide. Then, the suppliers must adhere to very strict social responsibility guidelines like not using child labour in their farms and the audit takes as long as two years. But the pay off is worth the effort. Grapes sold in Europe fetch about 2.5 euro per kilo while in other countries it is only a fifth of that.

While this year, it’s just about 400 tonnes, in the next five to six years that number could swell upto 12000 tonnes. No sour grapes for the Indian grape growers.

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