Following the apple collection points project, FFT constructed this 1200MT Controlled Atmosphere storage facility. As the harvest of apples takes place in the rainy season (and Himalayan roads are in a bad condition), a lot of apples never reached the (fruit)markets. By constructing the long-term apple storage in the middle of the apple area, the losses in the apple chain are minimized and harvest and storage can be done in just one day.
Premium apples
This Controlled Atmosphere storage facility is built as turnkey project, according to European standards; the first-one in its kind in India. Apples are successfully stored up to 11 months, and cater the premium upper-market in urban areas like Delhi, Lucknow and Calicut. Since the facility has 6 reefer vans at its disposal, and procures the premium apples from the collection points after pre-cooling, it is the only company in India that is able to supply apples to its clients through a complete cold chain.
Farmers as Owners
The Controlled Atmosphere storage is set-up as a joint venture company with farmers. While applying business rigour and avoiding the inefficiencies of the cooperative model, the economic ownership of the facility is transferred from FFT to the farmers, upon repayment of the investments made.
Click here to visit the Farmers as Owners website.
Transparent Pricing
The CA storage facility buys the apples directly from the farmer-owned collection points, based on a transparent price formula. The price reflects actual prices in nearby markets, less direct cost such as transport, time, servicing and packaging cost. The actual prices paid to the collection points can be traced back through an online database. Through this database, all apple boxes sold can be traced back to individual farmers at any given point. Profit of the CA storage is used to repay investments, but also to pay premiums to the supplying farmers (through their collection points).
