Kerala farmers' collective launches organic ethnic dry fruits

KOCHI: A farmers’ collective from Kerala in the organic and fair trade sector has launched ethnic dry fruits for the domestic market. Christened Only Organic , the venture has introduced organic dry varieties of ethnic fruits jackfruit, mango, green mango, papaya and gooseberry to start with.

The collective Manarcadu Social Service Society (Mass) promoted by Plantrich Agritech collects fruits from over 5000 farmer members scattered across hill tracts of Kerala, which are then processed at its factories in Kottayam and Idukki.

"Our dry fruits, which are certified organic and fair trade by reputed bodies, will be available in the metros and tier 2 cities. In addition to supporting local farmers, we also target reduction of carbon footprint by unnecessary import of fruits and dry fruits. When we import the logistics imposes irrevocable damage on the environment,’’ said Bijumon Kurian, president of Mass and MD of Plantrich Agritech Pvt Ltd.

Plantrich sells the organic and fair trade produces of Mass, which include coffee, cocoa, spices, coconut and pineapple. The company clocks an export turnover of Rs 30 crore, which is expected to cross Rs 100 crore by 2020. The domestic sales Only Organic products are expected to contribute about 40% of the turnover.