Do you remember rushing home from school to savour a bowl filled with fleshy, yellow squares of delight? I do. Summer afternoons often meant eyeing the neighbour’s kairi (raw mango) trees, elated when the green beauties would fall to the ground and be almost immediately scooped into our baskets.
As summer progresses, no Indian is a stranger to the long wait that ensues for the yellowish-green hues to transform into its ripe golden-orange form. And no one questions the long queues outside popular Gujarati joints whose aamras puri (a dish of sweet mango pulp served with deep-fried flatbread) is “to die for”, according to the regulars.
It is a juicy fact that summers in India are incomplete without mango dominating our homes and palates. This comes as no surprise. Indians have been cultivating mangoes for thousands of years, and till today, the love for the fruit hasn’t waned even one bit.
While the Alphonso continues to hold its status as a cult favourite for its vibrant sweetness and distinct flavour, there are hundreds, if not thousands of varieties that dot the landscape of India’s mango cultivation. In fact, the lesser-known varieties make an appearance in chutneys, pickles and the like, lending them their citrusy flavour.
This year, if you haven’t got your stock of mangoes yet, here’s a suggestion: why not get them delivered to you straight from a farm? We’ve put together a list of people, startups and local platforms that are bringing the sweetness of the mango from the tree to your plate.
1. Athalya Vandhu Ambewale
The Ratnagiri Alphonso isn’t budging from being hailed as the king of mangoes. A delicious pulp, relatively sweeter than other varieties, protected by a taut golden yellow skin, has rendered it this title. And as summer dawns each year, Parag Athalye is confident that the mangoes grown on his ancestral farm will please taste buds. The platform delivers all across Bengaluru. Speaking to The Better India, he says, “The prices vary according to the time of the season when the order is placed. The season starts around 25 February. During this time, one dozen mangoes retail for Rs 2,500. Towards the end of the season, the price drops down to Rs 1,000.”
Contact: 70195 72329
2. Alphonsomango.in
Those looking to order Ratnagiri Alphonso, Devgad Alphonso and Kesar mangoes are in luck. This platform delivers organically grown mangoes from their farm right to the comfort of your home. Looking back at the last five years, Prashant Powle, founder of the platform says that it was the best decision he made to quit the corporate sector and start this initiative. “We have served around 35,000 customers from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Our mangoes are naturally grown and ripened through the Vedic harvesting (a traditional method where mangoes are harvested from 3.20 AM until sunrise).” As Powle explains, the mangoes are positively affected by the ozone levels during this time. “We do not use any chemicals for the process,” he emphasises. “We burn cow dung, and remove carbon dioxide and other gases from the emitted mix while keeping oxygen and ethylene. These help the mango ripen.” A dozen costs anywhere from Rs 1,300 to Rs 2,000 depending on the city.
Contact: https://alphonsomango.in/
3. Villa Mart
Appalled by the news of farmer suicides in India, engineer Ramesh Biswal left his life in the US to return to his hometown in Odisha and launch Villa Mart. The mobile marketplace on wheels encourages farmers to sell their produce and earn fair prices. Since last year, Ramesh says, the platform has been focusing on mangoes. “We store mangoes in our farmhouse and ripen them without carbides or any pesticides.” He adds that the mangoes of Odisha are popular across India, spanning more than a hundred varieties. “We deliver around eight varieties including Dasheri, Amrapali, Mallika, Totapali and Mohan Bhog. A kilo costs anywhere between Rs 120 to Rs 1,200.”
Contact: 8093123412
4. Pritam Borate’s farm
Design professional Pritam Borate focuses on his corporate stint during the day, and tends to his passion project — a farm in Ratnagiri — during the evening. Every summer season, the farm is resplendent in mangoes, particularly the Ratnagiri Alphonso and Devgad Alphonso. “The mangoes are sold by the crate. Each crate contains around six dozen mangoes and retails for Rs 3,500,” he says. He shares that the farm is chemical residue-free and organic practices are followed.
Contact: 77689 44440
5. Aamrai
Three generations of the Vartak family have focused their attention on perfecting the growing and harvesting of the Ratnagiri Alphonso mango. The mango pickers, they say, have a trained eye in picking the fruit at the right time to ensure its sweetness and nutrient content are maximum. “These are ripened naturally in layers of penda (rice hay) in the old tradition, completely untouched by chemicals and middlemen,” their website reads. Along with the Alphonso, they also retail the Pairee, a plump mango with a pointed edge that develops black spots as it ripens. Pairee is a favourite for making aamras across homes in India.
Contact: https://aamrai.com/
6. Villkart
Brothers Anand and Ashish Sagar were introduced to the sorry plight of the farmers in their village in Bihar when they returned home during the COVID-19 pandemic. This compelled them to come up with the idea of Villkart as an attempt to help farmers sell their produce which would otherwise be left to rot. Speaking to The Better India, Ashish says, “Through our platform, we sell several unique varieties of mangoes. These include the Malda mango and Jardalu mango from Bihar.” The latter is a GI-tagged variety. Along with these, Kesar and Alphonso are also sold. “Our mangoes are naturally grown and organic. We are one of the first players to introduce the Malda and Jardalu mangoes across India. These mangoes are popular for their milky taste and retail for Rs 1399 for 5 kg.”
Contact: https://villkart.com/
7. Dial a Mango
Established in 1954, Dial a Mango is helmed by Mohan Dongre and Ratnakar Karale. With numerous varieties sold under their banner — Dasheri, Neelam, Chaunsa, Raspuri, Badami, Himsagar, Kesar, Amrapali and the classic Hapus — the platform follows a stringent set of protocols to ensure that the quality does not swindle across batches. A complete inspection is carried out followed by desapping, hot water treatment, drying, ripening in a chamber, x-ray scanning, and storage in a quarantine zone. This maintains the authenticity of the mangoes.
Contact: https://mangoalphonso.com/
8. Kubalwadi
Why must people give up their favourite mango once the season is over? This thought led Yogesh Chakre, founder of Kubalwadi, to ensure that customers have access to Alphonso mango pulp that is prepared from the mangoes grown on their farm, year-round! During the season, the platform delivers Ratnagiri Alphonso and Devgad Alphonso mangoes that retail from Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,400 per dozen. These mangoes are grown on Chakre’s farms as well as procured from farmers across India. “The farming is chemical-free,’ he emphasises.
Contact: https://www.kubalwadi.com/
Edited by Padmashree Pande.