3 days Ago By Priya Kothari
Pune: The mango season is here and the king of fruits is reigning over the markets. But the sweltering heat has played a spoilsport, especially for those who like to buy mangoes by holding them in their hands, carefully checking the texture, colour and fragrance. Instead, many are now ordering mangoes online from the comfort of their homes.
Traders said sales have picked up in the run-up to Gudi Padwa. Quick commerce players like Zepto, BigBasket, and Swiggy are delivering varieties like Alphonso, Badami, Lalbagh, and Totapuri to customers in ten minutes. "When I was younger, I would go with my mother to buy mangoes in the market, and we had a vendor who would deliver them home.
But this year, I was craving mangoes at 10 pm and tried ordering online. I ordered 3 Ratnagiri Hapus to begin with, and enjoyed them with a dollop of vanilla ice cream," said Saloni T, a resident of Kondhwa. Drashti Parekh, a resident of Baner, ordered from an online portal that sources mangoes directly from farmers in Ratnagiri.
"The best thing is that I know the source of my mangoes. They are organic and come with a replacement guarantee. I ordered two dozen so far and had no complaints," she said.
However, Aundh resident Shilpa Nadkarni is not too comfortable with online purchase of mangoes. "My neighbour ordered mangoes online, and they were extremely sour. I think one was spoilt.
I prefer going to the market and checking the quality before buying," she said. Customers also said that apart from offering a replacement guarantee, prices of mangoes on e-commerce are lower than market rates. Seshu Kumar Tirumala, chief buying and merchandising officer, BigBasket, said, "We have traditionally been large sellers of mangoes, and now we have totally moved our mango sales to quick commerce.
We are already seeing 2X growth compared to last year. We buy directly from farmers, so we try to keep prices as close to the cost price at the beginning of the season to help push up volumes," he said. Purchases online are expected to pick up further in mid-April.
Tanishq Dere, who sells mangoes online under brand Aamraaj Mangoes, said, "We have a farm in Bhimashankar and have also tied up with farmers in Devgad, Ratnagiri for supply of mangoes. Demand is high, but some amount of supply was hit because of the early onset of summer. We are selling about 1,500 dozen of mangoes a day at the rate of Rs 1,000- Rs 2,200 per dozen, depending on the variety.
" Durga Patil, who runs Swaraayu Group with her brother, expects good demand from customers this year as well. "We are selling about 200 dozen mangoes a week, and our customers keep coming back. People are afraid of getting mangoes from the market because there are some mangoes from Karnataka which are being sold as Devgad/Ratnagiri mangoes.
We recently dispatched our first batch," she said. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Navratri Wishes , Eid Messages and quotes !.
