INC appoints Raju Bhatia as India Ambassador

Raju Bhatia, the renowned face of California Agri Nuts Corporation has been appointed as India Ambassador to represent the dry fruits industry at the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council (INC).There has been no representation of the almonds, pistachios, walnuts and raisins industry from India at the INC till date.
The next conference of the INC will be held at Chennai from May 19-21, 2017. India will be hosting this event for the first time since the formation of INC in 1980. INC is the International source for information on nuts and dried fruits for Health, Nutrition, Food Safety, Statistics, Government Standards and Government regulations regarding trade barriers and trade quality standards.
Commenting on the appointment, Bhatia said,” It’s an honor and privilege to be appointed as an Ambassador for India to represent the dry fruits industry at the INC. Our ever growing dry fruit industry in India comprising of almonds, pistachios, walnuts, cashew nuts, raisins, etc.to mention a few, now has a representation worldwide, and my vision is to put forward issues across key bodies and help in promotion of trade and spread the health message on benefits of consuming these nuts to the masses.”
He has been attending the INC meetings since 2003 regularly and is well acknowledged in the International circuit of dry fruits trade.
As Managing Partner in California Agri Nuts Corporation and Managing Director of DRB Foods Pvt. Ltd., Bhatia’s focus has remain to create value for the industry and consumers alike. With his knowledge, skill and business acumen, he has taken his companies forward to being one of the largest and leading dry fruits traders and processors in India. He is recognized globally for his vision and is known as one of stalwarts of the industry.
Bhatia is also the General Secretary of the Association of Agro Importers (an apex body for dry fruits and spices), and member in the executive bodies of The Indo Afghan Chamber of Commerce and The Kirana Committee Delhi. He has held an apex role in coordinating policy matters like tariff structure, liberalization of trade and related issues. He has also worked in close liaison with The Almond Board of California and Australia and the Pistachio business to help them solve several trade related issues like tariff, propagations of the products in Indian market, phytosanitary regulations and issues, etc.
He has an impressive educational background, having studied from the top institutes of the country namely St. Columbas School, Shri Ram College of Commerce and BITS Pilani.
His family has been in the business of dry fruit trade since 1887 trading mainly with Afghanistan and Iran. This was transformed drastically post his joining in 1984, with business expansion to USA, Australia, China, Turkey and several more countries. In 2009, the family started processing and packaging dry fruits under the brand Nutty Gritties, which is distributed across leading organized retailers, institutions and e-commerce players in India, and a pioneer in the value added segment.