Street fruit vendors start peddling mangoes as early as April. But the questions every mango zealot should ask are: is this the best time to buy the fruit and where can you get organic varieties that are chemical-free as opposed to the artificially-ripened crop that is rampantly sold. Our list of three e-retailers and a farm provide the answers to both questions:
Hafoos.com
This is the first season of mango trade for Hafoos.com, which was set up in Mumbai in November 2015. As the name suggests, the e-commerce site only deals in hapoos or Alphonso, generally regarded as the most superior variety of the summer fruit. They sell four types, which they’ve named Pasand, Saras, Sona and Ek Number in order of the size and price. Hafoos.com’s mangoes are packaged in Ratnagiri, where organic farmers they’ve tied up with in that city and neighbouring towns such as Dapoli, Pawas, Khed, Chiplun and Antravli, deposit their harvest.
When to buy: Mid-March to the first week of June.
Price: Starts at Rs475 for half a dozen and Rs950 for a dozen. Visit Hafoos.com.
Allthingsorganic.co.in
Launched in August 2015, this e-commerce venture from Delhi specialises in organic fruits, vegetables, clothes and skin care and hair care products. Like Hafoos.com, this is their first year of selling organic mangoes. They sell kesar and pyari varieties in addition to Alphonso, which makes up the bulk of their trade. The online store gets Alphonso and pyari from farms across Ratnagiri district and kesar from Gujarat. For the sake of transparency, All Things Organic has implemented a farm traceability programme. Their boxes carry a QR code that customers can scan to get information on the farm from which their mangoes were sourced.
When to buy: Alphonso, from March to May; kesar and pyari, in June.
Price: Starts at Rs990 for a dozen. Visit Allthingsorganic.co.in.
Vrindavan Farm
Vrindavan Farm is over 20 years old but it only began selling organic mangoes in Mumbai in the summer of 2011. Located in Wada in Maharashtra, the farm is owned and managed by Gaytri Bhatia, an environmental analyst who has implemented a sustainable, chemical-free model of cultivation. Everything from the planting to the harvesting and packaging of the fruit is done by hand. The farm, which has over 500 mango trees, sells Rajapuri, kesar, hapoos, totapuri, Ratna, batli and Sindhu varieties. Other seasonal produce that you can buy from it on a weekly basis are moringa, curry leaves, jackfruit, sorrel, chikoo, cashew apple, drumsticks and methi.
When to buy: End of May to June.
Price: Bhatia will price this year’s crop depending on the harvest. The price of a dozen ranged from Rs350 to Rs450 last season. You can also opt for a ‘Surprise Me’ box, which contains an assortment of a dozen mangoes selected by Bhatia, which was priced at Rs400 in 2015. To purchase a box, email vrindavanfarm@gmail.com.
Placeoforigin.in
Placeoforigin.in is a speciality online food store that was established in Bangalore in June 2015. They sell sweets and confectionery, savoury snacks and pickles by iconic regional Indian food brands such as Kolkata cafe Flurys, Pune sweet mart Chitale Bandhu, Dehradun’s Kwality Toffees, Kolhapur farsan retailers Amba Bhadang and Auroville’s artisanal chocolate makers Mason & Co. This year they’ve introduced organic and non-organic Alphonso mangoes, which they source from farms in Ratnagiri and Devgad in Maharashtra.
When to buy: End of May to the second week of June.
Price: Between Rs600 and Rs1,450 for a dozen. Use the code ‘MANGO’ to avail of Rs200 off on your first purchase. Visit Placeoforigin.in.