KATIHAR, INDIA – Ravit Singh, a leather clothing trader in Denver, Colorado, is starting to feel the pinch of the 50% tariffs imposed on Indian goods by US President Donald Trump in recent months.
The 50-year-old from Kolkata in eastern India told Al Jazeera that soaring food prices have wreaked havoc on his family’s finances, especially his family’s favorite food, fox nuts (commonly known as makhana).
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“My monthly budget went from $500 before the pandemic to $900, and tariffs have made things even worse,” he said.
A pack of fox nuts, weighing about 25 grams (0.9 ounces), used to cost $2, but the price has doubled to $4 in recent months as prices for other household staples such as lentils and basmati rice rise, he added.
Fox nuts are droplets of water lily seeds found in tropical and subtropical regions of South and East Asia, and have a significant presence in India, China, Nepal, and Japan. Rich in protein, calcium, antioxidants and vitamins, nuts are quickly gaining a reputation as a major immune booster.
But they are not immune to President Trump’s tariffs. The US president first imposed a 25% tariff on Indian goods, then doubled it to 50% because of India’s imports of Russian oil, which he said were helping fuel Russia’s war against Ukraine. The tariffs are hitting companies in several sectors of India for which the United States is a major export market, including shrimp, diamonds and textile companies.
Fox nut exporters have seen sales to the US fall by up to 40%.
Still, some people find a glimmer of hope amidst the crisis. Indian fox nuts have found a new alternative market, as India’s demand for superfoods increases.
“Early stage”
In India, fox nuts are grown in the lowlands, especially in eastern Bihar, where they are a source of income for about 150,000 farmers. The country accounts for 90% of the world’s production.
The state produces 120,000 tons of seeds and 40,000 tons of popped fox nuts each year on 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres).
Cultivation takes place in shallow fields approximately 1.3 to 1.8 meters (4 to 6 feet) deep. New plants germinate easily from old seeds and are not expensive.
The harvest season lasts from mid-July to the end of November, during which workers sweep away all the water collected in the seed fields using traditional tools such as split bamboo horns and nets, depending on the size of the seeds.
The collected seeds are first dried in the sun and then heated in clay or iron pots to make the outer shell brittle. Finally, the seeds are pounded to remove the white edible makhana puffs and roasted again for the final crunch.
India exported around 800 tonnes of fox nuts to countries including Germany, China, the US and the Middle East in 2024-25. However, the US, where 50 per cent of India’s exported fox nuts are exported, dominates the market, with Shakti Sudha Agro Ventures controlling half of India’s total health food exports, Satyajit Singh said.
The industry’s total revenue, including the domestic market, is about 3.6 billion rupees ($40 million), Singh told Al Jazeera.
“However, this sector is still in its infancy and has limited scope, which means it holds huge opportunities. [the] indian diaspora [the] It is an international market and we need to spread more awareness about it at home and abroad,” he added.
He said he was already seeing demand from new markets such as Spain and South Africa due to the Indian diaspora and awareness of the health benefits of fox nuts.
Kolkata-based fox nut exporter Ketan Benghani, 28, told Al Jazeera that the domestic demand for fox nuts has also doubled every year since the coronavirus pandemic, when people started realizing the health benefits of nuts.
His exports to the United States amounted to about 46 tons, a drop of 40% due to the tariffs. But he said he wasn’t too worried and hoped rising demand in India would make up for it.
In fact, the high demand is attracting some budding entrepreneurs.
Among them is Mohd Garfaras, 27, a fox nut producer and exporter based in Chakhi village in Bihar’s Purnea district.
Gharfaraz told Al Jazeera that the company’s sales jumped from 5.4 million rupees ($60,000) in 2019 to 45 million rupees ($500,000) in the fiscal year ending March 2025 due to a surge in domestic demand.
Strong domestic market
Makhana, commonly known in India as fox nuts, was historically common in Indian kitchens, but like many traditional foods, it has lost out to the clever marketing campaigns, branding and flavors of Western and more modern Indian snacks.
Fortunately, the pandemic has seen a resurgence in the popularity of fox nuts due to their immune properties. Makhana is now on the shelves of Indian supermarkets and comes in a variety of flavors from peri-peri to tangy tomato to cheese, onion and cream.
Sujay Verma, a 43-year-old software engineer from Kolkata who is from Bihar and grew up eating fox nuts, told Al Jazeera that he feeds his two daughters a plate every day at breakfast.
“We were rushing after expensive packaged food and it was burning a hole in our pockets. But fox nuts are not only cheap but also good for your health,” he said.
The Indian government is also eyeing the business potential of fox nuts. Earlier this year, it announced the establishment of the Makana Board at an initial cost of 1 billion rupees ($11 million) to institutionalize the value chain and provide companies with training, technical support, quality regulation and export promotion.
The push in the Indian government is coming from the top. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a rally earlier this year that he eats fox nuts almost every day and that it was time for India to take this superfood to the world.
Farmers and workers are also switching to foxnut production from other crops in search of higher profits.
Anil Kumar, an assistant professor at the Bohra Paswan Shastri Agriculture University in Purnia, Bihar, told Al Jazeera that workers who collect seeds earn about 2,000 rupees ($22) per day for every 50 kilograms (110 pounds) collected. That’s more than double the 700 to 900 rupees ($8 to $10) usually paid to unskilled workers in India.
In 2010, foxnut production was limited to 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) and farmers were paid 81 rupees (about $0.90) per kilogram, he said. Currently, about 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres) of land are used for foxnut cultivation, earning farmers 450 rupees ($5) per kilogram.
Satyajit of Shakti Sudha Agro Ventures said, “The tariffs will not have a negative impact on us as demand is increasing globally.”
