Indian companies look for alternative ways to market and store fruits and veg

Direct delivery to consumers, sun drying and processing unsold fruits and vegetables are some of the…

Direct delivery to consumers, sun drying and processing unsold fruits and vegetables are some of the measures taken by horticulture companies and organisations like De Haat, Ninjacart, INI Farms and the Sahyadri farmers producers organisation.

With a dip in sales in both local and national markets and with no major orders coming in from buyers due to labour and transportation issues, companies have undertaken immediate steps.

"We are directly selling fruits and vegetables in the radius of 100 km from our sourcing centres. Apartments and housing colonies are emerging as new market for us," said Shashank Kumar, co-founder and CEO of DeHaat that caters to Big Bazaar, Spencers, More besides app based vendors.

Apart from direct deliveries to consumers, Ninjacart which is doing 90-95% of its previous volumes of 1000 tonne a day is also delivering to orphanages and old age homes at subsidised rates.

Sun drying, processing the extra fruit and veg in pulps, paste, frozen and dried products and direct sales were other option which was adopting. This will help in some way in saving financial losses said Sahyadri Farms director Vilas Shinde.