With the average day temperature hovering around 33-34 degrees Celsius, vendors selling watermelons, tender coconuts, juices and nongu have put up temporary stalls across the city.
Summer is the peak sales season for these vendors and there are many who come to Coimbatore during February — April to sell these summer offerings.
Sugarcane juice
U. Nagaraj of Karaikudi sells sugarcane juice on Krishnasamy Road throughout the year. Summer sales start in February and goes on for four or five months. It picks up in March. He also supplies to those who place orders.
The juice is liked more by children and there are many who prefer to take home the juice, he says.
Sugarcane harvest is good this year and prices are also reasonable. He buys it from wholesale traders here. During summer, he needs at least three bundles a day. He starts sales at about 10am daily and it goes on till 6pm, serving more than 50 customers a day.
Nongu
Saravanan, his father and brothers, sell nongu (palm fruit) near the VOC Park from 9.30am to 7pm. They stay in Coimbatore for three to four months and shift to Chennai to sell nongu . “We get nongu from Soolakal. The prices and sales are good even now this year. Sales will be good for another two months,” he says.
They get more than 150 customers a day each. There are many vendors from neighbouring districts who come to Coimbatore every year to sell nongu and return home after a couple of months.
Watermelon and
tender coconut
Maran, who resides at Pappanaikenpalayam, decided to sell watermelons and tender coconuts this year during summer as he sees good demand for these. He has put up a temporary stall at Red Fields and plans to put up three or four more shortly.
Tender coconuts comes from Thondamuthur and watermelons from Bengaluru, he says. From 9.30am to 7pm, the sales are brisk throughout the day.
Apart from taking watermelons home, several office-goers come to have a plateful on their way back home. Though it is only a seasonal sales, the demand is good, he says. All these products prove to be a choice of the rich as well as the poor to beat the summer heat and to quench their thirst.
