Australian brands reap AAHAR success

AAHAR 2026 saw the largest-ever Australian food and beverage delegation to India, underscoring Australia’s growing ambition in one of the world’s most dynamic consumer markets.

For the third consecutive year, Australia had a strong national presence at AAHAR, which is South Asia’s biggest food trade show. This year’s delegation included 26 visiting Australian delegates representing 44 exhibiting clients and 50 Australian brands.

The event attracted more than 125,000 visitors, providing Australian businesses with unparalleled access to buyers, distributors, retailers, importers, and hospitality decision-makers from across India and the South Asia region.

It has been 3 months since AAHAR. Now, several clear lessons and successes have emerged.

A buffet of Australian brands captures attention

This year, the Australia Pavilion featured a diverse portfolio of 50 Australian brands. These included honey, plant proteins, lamb, ready-to-cook products, health and wellness solutions, beverages, grains, sauces and pet nutrition products.

The breadth of Australia’s food and beverage offering and the diversity of categories showed that Australia has brands and products across all of India’s demand areas. Indian importers increasingly seek differentiated offerings that can cater to evolving consumer preferences, particularly in premium, organic, healthy and convenience-focused categories.

For many visitors, the Australia Pavilion represented a “one-stop shop” for discovering new products and emerging brands that address India’s rapidly expanding demand for quality food and beverage imports.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to India

A second key takeaway is that success in India requires careful market matching with the right import partner.

Indian importers often manage highly specialised distribution networks and possess different strengths across channels, geographies and product categories. Many also have longstanding relationships with specific suppliers and distributor networks, and understand their consumer base.

As a result, identifying the right importer-partner is critical. It is important that they understand brand positioning, and have distribution strengths, marketing capability and commercial instincts.

For Australian exporters, this means entering India with flexibility and a willingness to test different pathways to market. Clients should experiment and allow their products to find the right customer before scaling more broadly.

Austrade launched the Cooking with Australian Lamb cookbook featuring 50 recipes from 37 chefs at AAHAR.

Consolidation models are gaining momentum

AAHAR 2026 also highlighted the increasing relevance of consolidation models for the Indian market.

A growing number of Australian exporters are exploring approaches where multiple complementary brands are represented by a single exporter or aggregator. This model provides importers with a more attractive product mix while creating greater flexibility around volumes and logistics.

The approach is particularly effective in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) categories. The model provides the commercial agility needed to navigate India’s vast and diverse consumer landscape while reducing barriers for new brands entering the market.

Delivering commercial outcomes

One of the strongest indicators of AAHAR’s success is the speed with which commercial outcomes have begun to materialise.

Among the standout stories is BeFMCG, an Australian exporter, retailer partner and brand consolidator that brought four brands to AAHAR 2026. The company participated as part of a diversification strategy, having historically focused much of its export activity on markets in the Middle East and North Africa.

BeFMCG became the first Australian participant at AAHAR 2026 to secure an order on the opening day of the exhibition. The same customer quickly placed a repeat order, followed by additional orders from another Indian buyer.

While the transaction values remain modest at this early stage, there is strong scope for growth and repeat orders in the months ahead.

Digital channels the next growth opportunity

Beyond traditional retail and food service channels, AAHAR 2026 highlighted growing interest in India’s rapidly evolving digital commerce ecosystem.

Australian exporters are increasingly exploring opportunities in e-commerce and quick commerce sectors. These channels are reshaping how Indian consumers discover and purchase premium imported products.

For many Australian exporters, this may represent the next significant growth opportunity in India.

AAHAR showcased the diversity of Australian products, reinforced partnerships with importers and distributors, strengthened collaboration with state governments and delivered early commercial wins for participating businesses.

As Australia and India continue to deepen their trade relationship, Austrade South Asia remains committed to helping Australian exporters identify the right partners, unlock new market opportunities and ensure more Australian products reach Indian consumers in the years ahead.