A group of youth in the city have come together to purchase and sell avocados directly from farmers in Kodaikanal and Ooty. They claim that the demand for the fruit was growing as it is deemed to have various health benefits.
Two friends, Manoj Dharmar and J. Sagayaraj, on a trip to the two hill stations, found that farmers were struggling to sell avocados which they had grown and harvested. On the other hand, there was a rising demand in Tiruchi city, and the fruit was being sold for as high as ₹220 per kg at various large stores.
“Since the lockdown, many have taken to drinking milkshakes made of the fruit and adding it to their daily meals through salads,” Mr. Manoj said. Hoping to ease the burden of the farmers and to supply fresh fruit to the residents, they decided to purchase it directly from them and supply it.
"We initially purchased 350 kg, which was not a large enough order for the farmers" said Mr. Sagayaraj. “They had tonnes of the fruit on hand and were incurring heavy losses. We took a risk and but it did not make a huge difference to them,” he said.
They contacted friends who consume the fruit, and also made posters to be posted on WhatsApp and Facebook. “A cost of ₹150 per kg was fixed for the fruit. The farmers agreed to deliver the fruit up to Dindigul, from where a friend who lived nearby said he would transport it. Manoj and I personally delivered the fruit for all the orders the first time,” he said.
The customers were impressed and orders for a total of 700 kg was received the second time around, Mr. Manoj said. “This time, the farmers were overwhelmed and delivered the fruit to us directly. We decided not to use plastic items for packaging and purchased paper bags to pack the fruit,” he said.
Three boys, who used to work as food delivery boys for food aggregators and had lost their jobs amid the lockdown were roped in to make the deliveries. “We made a reasonably profit margin and were able to pay them for the deliveries,” Mr. Sagayaraj said.
The youth say that they were glad to help farmers who were unable to sell their produce and were letting it rot. “We pay them directly as they load their fruit onto our vehicles. We do not wait to sell the fruit and pay them afterwards. Selling is our job, not theirs,” he said.
