FPO Ships Frozen Food from Haryana to Canada: How Farmer Groups and APEDA Link Farms to World Markets
A 24-metric-tonne consignment of frozen food products was flagged off from Sonipat, Haryana, on 1 October 2026 for export to Canada.
The exporter is Aterna Foods Producer Company Limited, a Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO), meaning a business owned and run by farmers themselves.
The shipment is worth CAD 35,140 (Canadian dollars) and has 2,295 boxes of frozen green peas, mixed vegetables, peas and carrots, sweet corn and samosas.
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, helped arrange the export and supported the unit under its Financial Assistance Scheme.
The National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM) was also acknowledged for its contribution.
The export shows FPOs moving from selling raw crops to selling higher-value processed food directly in foreign markets, which can bring farmers a better price for their produce.
Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)
A Farmer Producer Organisation, or FPO, is a group of farmers who come together and form their own registered business. The farmers are its members and owners. Together they buy seeds and fertilisers in bulk at lower prices, store and process their crops, and sell them in larger quantities to big buyers and markets. In short, an FPO lets many small farmers act like one big farmer.
The Haryana-to-Canada shipment was made by a producer company, a common legal form of FPO. By processing and exporting frozen vegetables and snacks directly, the farmer group captures more of the final price instead of selling raw peas and corn to traders. This is exactly the kind of value addition and market linkage that FPO policy aims for.
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)
The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority, or APEDA, is a statutory body (a body created by an Act of Parliament) that promotes the export of India's farm and processed food products. It works under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and has its headquarters in New Delhi. It helps exporters with registration, quality standards, infrastructure, market information and trade fairs. In simple words, APEDA is the government's main helping hand for anyone who wants to sell Indian fruits, vegetables, rice, meat, dairy or packaged foods abroad.
APEDA facilitated the Haryana FPO's frozen food shipment to Canada and supported the exporter under its Financial Assistance Scheme. Frozen vegetables and samosas are processed products covered by APEDA, and the shipment fits its push to link farmer groups directly with global buyers.
- Shipment: 24 metric tonnes, 2,295 boxes, worth CAD 35,140
- Flagged off from Sonipat, Haryana, on 1 October 2026; destination Canada
- Exporter: Aterna Foods Producer Company Limited (an FPO)
- Products: frozen green peas, mixed vegetables, peas and carrots, sweet corn, samosas
- Facilitator: APEDA (Ministry of Commerce and Industry), under its Financial Assistance Scheme
- 10,000 FPOs scheme: launched 29 February 2020; outlay ₹6,865 crore till 2027-28; target reached in February 2025
- APEDA Act in force from 13 February 1986
- India's agri exports 2024-25: about USD 51.9 billion; APEDA scheduled products about USD 28.6 billion