Shivam Mittal, a young entrepreneur from Punjab has become the first exporter from India to send a consignment of coated popcorn under the brand ‘Corn Troopers’ to South Korea.
The first consignment was flagged off on January 22 from Dappar (Punjab) inland container depot (ICD), located on the National Highway between Ambala and Chandigarh and loaded onto the vessel on January 30, is expected to reach Port of Busan this month. Mittal’s production facility at Dera Bassi is near the ICD.
“It took me more than a year of constant follow ups with the importer to close the deal as pricing was the main issue in the negotiation. Though I am not making huge profits, I decided to go for it since it was a major breakthrough to get into the South Korean market,” Mittal told businessline. Before this consignment, he had shipped some of his products to other destinations through merchant exporters.
Initial focus
Narrating his experience, he said after completing his Law Degree from a private university in Sonipat (Haryana), he wanted to do something different. Though his parents were both in government service, he traced his business to his belonging to a trading community. Taking advantage of government schemes, he applied for bank loan and was able to start his venture three years ago.
“Initially, the focus was to enter into the domestic market, but parallelly I was exploring export opportunities, too. I participated in different exhibitions including one in South Korea and another in Dubai. I first met the importer (of South Korea) at an exhibition in Delhi and later on in Seoul. But, the deal was clinched only when I chanced upon meeting the same person in Dubai,” Mittal said and added that he was in touch with the importer through mails.
After the deal was finalised and he received an advance, he went for a new design for the pack in Korean language. “We have sent approximately 27,000 pouches (of average 75 gram, each) in a 40-feet container to the Dapper ICD from where it travelled to Mundra port.
Mulls contract farming
Mittal also brought to the fore how the domestic logistics cost is too prohibitive to compete as he spent about Rs 1 lakh to send the consignment to Mundra whereas the shipping cost in the vessel is $160 (about ₹14,000) to Port of Busan.
Further, he shared that a big retail chain which he followed for over two years without success, enquired about his same product after seeing those on display at an exhibition in Delhi as it found the pack with Korean language attractive. “They (representatives of the retail chain) are in discussion with me, but their display cost is too prohibitive,” he said.
He also said currently he is sourcing the corn from traders in Karnataka, but going ahead he would like to get to cultivated in Punjab and Haryana through contract farming.
It is a value-added popcorn, and finding acceptance among young population in Punjab and Haryana. “We have caramelised the popcorn or coated it with different items,” he said adding there are different variants of popcorn such as tomato, cheese and chocolate.