An Apple’s Passage to India

My grandpa, Barney Smith, was a seed salesman and would often say, “nothing happens until something is SOLD.” With that in mind I jumped at the chance to join my colleagues to market my family’s apples in the world’s largest democracy:  India.

In the Yakima Valley, we ship apples all over the world, but rarely do we hear about who buys these apples and why they choose our apples over others. My travels to India this year helped me understand the complex relationships across oceans, borders, cultures, and classes of people that get our fruit into the mouths of people that highly value it, which then allows some of that value to come back to our Valley and nourish our local economy.

India is so many different things to different people: it is beautiful, tragic, ancient, ambitious, hopeful. I found myself staring out our car window anywhere we went trying to comprehend the web of history, geography, religion, and culture that could describe the scale of poverty that is ever present. I travelled to Mumbai, Delhi, and Agra, where urbanization in the form of freeways, bright lights, and new buildings is taking hold in pockets. At times this felt as out of place as a skyscraper in downtown Wapato, but as I understood the geography better, it started to click. India deals with contrasts of rich and poor, big and small, hot and cool in ways that can be disorienting to a foreigner, but are every day for 1.2 billion people.

My journey began with a midnight arrival into a humid, musty Mumbai, followed by a dash through dark streets to “Navi Mumbai” which is close to the wholesale produce market where our apples are sold and distributed. The market is more open and free form than any other I’ve been to. Each business there has some signage and unmarked boundaries, but each takes tremendous care to display their produce carefully and attractively. Washington apples are omnipresent, which our customers attribute to confidence in USA-grown produce, excellent color, firmness, and consistency at the right price.

Our brand, Starr Ranch, is well represented throughout the market by scores of individual businesses who stack fruit in a pyramidal form accessible on all sides. It is a simple but very beautiful way to display apples that I saw replicated everywhere we went in the country. The attention to detail and ever present availability for produce conveyed to me the country’s high value placed on fresh fruits and vegetables.

In the nation’s capital of Delhi, there appears to be greater prosperity in the form of new developments, international brands, and brighter lights. Compared to tropical, ocean side Mumbai, the climate in Delhi is much cooler in winter, which, combined with an inversion layer, kept the wood stove smoke stiflingly thick in the air all around us. From here we also took a day trip to Agra, the former capital of the Mughal Empire to visit the stunning Taj Mahal, where India’s history as a Muslim-ruled world superpower is center stage. On many street corners in cities along the way from Delhi to Agra there were push-carts selling apples to one Indian consumer at a time. In all of the modern, industrialized nations I have been to, I haven’t seen apples take such a prominent, visible position as they do in India.

Nothing else in India captures my imagination and commands my attention as much as its food. While the demands of business superseded culinary adventure, we had a few spectacular meals that showcased a wide spectrum of Indian flavors. In Mumbai, I particularly enjoyed a spicy biryani rice dish and warm unleavened paratha bread with rich palak paneer. In Delhi, we focused on Punjabi cuisine which had an emphasis on lamb in different forms, best as an open flame-cooked skewer, as well as butter chicken that was savory, rich and satisfying. I would go back to India for the cuisine many times over.

While the economy is growing at a rate much faster than western economies, progress that most Indians will enjoy doesn’t appear inevitable, but will instead take brilliant leadership to tackle the many issues the country faces. Infrastructure improvement, income inequality, women’s rights, and air pollution are just a handful of the issues that Indian media highlighted while I was there. As someone who believes free democracy will always win in the long run, I am optimistic that India will fulfill its enormous potential to provide prosperity for its citizens, as well as continue to be a market that highly values and appreciates the great apples of our Valley.