The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Imported fruits flood market in Khammam

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Thursday, Nov 20, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Imported fruits flood market in Khammam

D. Chandra Bhaskar Rao

— Photo: G. N. Rao.

Difficult to resist: Fruit stalls make brisk business with imported grapes and apples .

KHAMMAM: Rose apple from New Zealand and ruby- colored grapes from California and sweet tamarind from Thailand – are all new to the market. The vendors have been cashing in on the curiosity of the buyers craving in for the imported fruits and thus make brisk business. The local market is flooded with a wide range of foreign fruits in the winter. Imported from South Africa, New Zealand, Austria and the US, the fruits, well graded and neatly packed, have been a great attraction in the stalls. Some of them taste better and appear different grabbing the attention of buyers.

Narasimha Rao, the first fruit vendor to introduce the imported fruits in the local market, says that the people were evincing great interest in them even though they cost more. The stocks would be one week old by the time they reach the Indian market and five to ten per cent of the stocks go waste. The California grapes cost Rs 250 a kg, but people are going crazy for it. The Washington apple are sold at some Rs 240 a dozen. The sweet tamarind that comes packed with a promise of long shelf life also enjoyed good demand. A good number of stalls that have come up near the district courts are thriving on sale of foreign fruits.

The imported fruits are meant only for the well-to-do and not many can afford to buy such items priced high. The Shimla apple is much more tastier and their cost was within the reach of people like us, says a teacher M. Srinivasa Rao. Even some of the super markets have put the imported fruits for sale.

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