The agribusiness vertical of Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), on Thursday, unveiled branded apple Saboro here.
Mahindra ShubhLabh Services Ltd. (MSSL), the agri and allied businesses unit of the Mahindra group, will start with positioning the apples in Heritage Foods chain of stores here. It will be available at around 200 outlets, including chains such as Reliance Fresh and Natures’s Basket from Godrej. Soon, as the season starts, the company would offer grapes, followed by bananas and other imported fruits, said Chief Executive of the unit, Ashok Sharma, at a press conference here on Thursday.
Hitherto, people only had the Washington brand from the U.S. and Fiji apples from China, he said. While the imported apples were being sold at about Rs.200 a kg, Saboro would retail at around Rs.170 a kg.
“We will be the first to position these apples across the country soon, apart from handling export demand. India ranks No. 4 in the world in apple production, producing two million tonnes, but we still have a long way to go compared to China, which tops the list at 34 million tonnes,” Mr. Sharma pointed out.
From 1,000 now, the company wanted to double the number of contract farmers and include bananas and mangoes in the fruit basket, he said.
