NEW DELHI – A pack of foxnuts (Makhana) weighing about 25 grams, which used to cost $2, has doubled to $4 in recent months in the US, due to tariffs squeezing household budgets, a report has said. The 50 percent tariffs on Indian imports have hit sales, with exporters to the US seeing shipments slump by as much as 40 percent.
Indian fox nut exporters, however, have found alternate markets. Al Jazeera cited a Denver-based leather garment trader, originally hailing from Kolkata, saying that his monthly grocery budget rose to $900 from $500 before the pandemic, specifically mentioning the price rise in fox nuts or Makhana.
Foxnut exporters are exploring demand from new markets, like Spain and South Africa, driven by the Indian diaspora and awareness of the health benefits of foxnuts. India exported about 800 metric tons of fox nuts in 2024–25 to markets including Germany, China, the US, and the Middle East, with the US accounting for half of those exports.
The sector is limited to the Indian diaspora in the international market. There is a need to spread more awareness about it both domestically and abroad, according to Satyajit Singh, whose company, Shakti Sudha Agro Ventures, controls half of India’s total exports of the health food.
India is the largest producer of makhana in the world, accounting for nearly 80 percent of global production. Bihar remains the backbone of the country’s makhana output, contributing around 85 percent of national production, with Darbhanga one of the key hubs for cultivation and processing. (IANS)