While several businesses were hit due to the lockdown, new businesses were also established. The pandemic changed the life of Hriday Pai, who was all set to move to Canada and begin work there. Forced to stay back, and with his textile store closed, he decided to launch an organic outlet ‘My Brand’.
Hriday was feeling low when he realized that his Canada plan may not materialize.
His father Annu Mangalore said, “I told Hriday to work on a proposal. Along with other fruits and vegetables, we decided to brand jackfruit based on the colour—red, orange, and yellow—and to our surprise, the demand for red is high, and since the outlet’s launch on June 1, we have managed to sell about 10 tonnes of jackfruit. We also do doorstep delivery of ready-to-eat jackfruit bulbs that are hygienically packed, for which the demand is increasing.” Annu said that he plans to open 9 more stores by the end of this year. The fruit is sourced from Doddaballapur and Tumakuru.
Chandramouli Shenoy, proprietor, MVS Fruits, said, “I am a third generation fruit trader, and after an interaction with experts at ‘Halasu Mela,’ before the pandemic, I decided to introduce jackfruit at my store for the first time, two months ago. After the produce arrived, I shared it on WhatsApp, and to my surprise, I received nearly 100 calls. People wait for the stocks to arrive. People’s awareness about the fruit is also increasing,” he said. Shenoy has managed to sell 9 tonnes of jackfruit.
Mangaluru’s success in selling jackfruit during the Covid-19 crisis is a clear indication that there is a good demand for fruits, provided they are served hygienically. Probably, for the first time, doorstep delivery of jackfruit or only bulbs has been taken up, said Shree Padre, global ambassador for jackfruit in India. “The Gowd Saraswat Brahmin factor has worked for Mangaluru. The community is always on the lookout for quality fruit. There is a latent demand for jackfruit in urban areas, and unfortunately, so far, there was no effort to procure the jackfruit being sold on the footpath, and sell it from a clean and decent shop. Time has also come for an exclusive outlets that sell jackfruit in the form of the whole fruit, pre-packed, value-added products with a longer shelf life as well as a counter that will serve jackfruit preparations such as a smoothies, milkshakes, pedas, ice-creams, and other products,” he added.

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