APEDA exports GI tagged sweet dish Mihidana from West Bengal to Bahrain

To promote indigenous & Geographical Identification (GI) tagged products, the first consignment of GI tagged sweet dish Mihidana, sourced from Bardhaman, West Bengal, has been exported to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

The consignment of the unique sweet dish Mihidana was exported to Bahrain by APEDA registered M/S DM Enterprises, Kolkata and imported by Aljazira Group, Bahrain. The sweet dish from West Bengal is being displayed (also provided for tasting purposes) to consumers at Aljazira superstores in Bahrain. More consignments of the unique sweet dish would be exported to Bahrain during the forthcoming Diwali festival.

Recently, to commemorate the historical legacy of a century-old sweet delicacy and GI certified - Jaynagarer Moa, prepared from the popped-rice ball and fresh date-palm jaggery, in Jaynagar, West Bengal, India Post in collaboration with APEDA, released a specially designed envelope.

In January 2021, a consignment of Jaynagar Moa was exported to the Kingdom of Bahrain by APEDA registered D M Enterprises, Kolkata. APEDA has been focusing on increasing lesser-known, indigenous and GI-tagged food products from the country.

In August, 2021, India Post released a special cover on West Bengal's sweetmeats Mihidana and Sitabhog. West Bengal's Bardhaman got the GI tag for the century-old sweetmeats in 2017.

A GI tag denotes a specific geographical origin and possesses qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. GI, a form of intellectual property right (IPR), is distinct from other forms of IPR, as it ascribes the exclusivity to the community in defined geography rather than to an individual, as is in the case of trademarks and patents.

A GI tag can be issued for agricultural, natural or manufactured goods that have a unique quality, reputation or other characteristics attributable to their geographical origin. Darjeeling tea, Basmati rice, Kanchipuram Silk, Mysore Silk, Hyderabadi haleem, Nagaland chilli products, etc, sold with the GI tag, have premium pricing.

APEDA undertakes market promotion activities to export food products, market intelligence for making informed decisions, international exposure, skill development, capacity building and high-quality packaging.

APEDA has been carrying out promotional activities to bring unique and GI-certified products to India's agricultural and processed food products export map. APEDA provides assistance to set up packhouses across States which would fulfill the mandatory requirement or infrastructure for the export of fresh fruits and vegetables to the international market.