• Are there any partnerships you are seeking with food processing industries as well?

Yes, ultimately what happens is that when fruits are stored in the CA facilities, there will be a certain percentage which cannot be sold for the retail market and can easily be converted into food processing input for apple fruits, jams, jellies etc. I foresee the growth of ancillary units near our facility at Rai, which will take lesser grade fruits and convert them into processed items like jellies, jams, juice, pulp. Currently, a very small percentage from our facility goes to the food processing industry. It will also act as a catalyst to the further build-up of food processing industries around such stores. A partnership with the food processing industry is part of our plan.

• Do you see competition heating up in this space, given the spurt in demand for cold chains?

There are some other players. But the point is, it not an easy business to do. One has to be prepared to bear the initial shocks. Like this year, the crop from Himachal Pradesh was very good and the Jammu and Kashmir crop comes much later. So by the time we were ready to take the fruit out from the CA stores, the J&K apples were still coming. So we had to postpone the release. Obviously, when you store it in CA stores, you incur extra costs. So you can’t be competing with fresh fruit during the season. There are several variables which one has to reckon with — prices may vary, there may be a year when crops get damaged.