Surat district is a notified Agriculture Export Zone for mango, and chikoo (sapota) is one of its main fruits. A unit that turns ripe fruit into frozen pulp and slices can supply ice-cream makers, sweet shops and caterers all year.
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This unit buys ripe mangoes and chikoo (sapota) from farms, washes and peels them, and makes pulp and slices. Frozen in pouches and tubs, the fruit lets sweet shops, bakeries, juice bars and ice-cream makers use it long after the season ends.
NABARD's 2023-24 credit plan for Surat notes the district is notified as an Agriculture Export Zone for mango and vegetables, and lists mango, sapota, banana and papaya among its main fruit crops. It puts food and agro processing at ₹348.52 crore of credit potential and records NABARD support for a Mega Food Park at Mangrol. Nearby Navsari and Valsad are also major chikoo and mango districts. Mango ras is a summer favourite across Gujarat, and chikoo shakes and ice creams sell all year.
You need an FSSAI food licence, a pulper, a steam kettle, a filling machine and a freezer room, plus clean water and steady power. The hard part is the season. Mango lasts only a few months, so plan your year around chikoo, which fruits more than once a year. Cut chikoo browns quickly, so freeze it fast. You must pay farmers promptly at harvest while stock sells slowly, so arrange working capital first.
Sell to ice-cream makers and sweet shops, hotel kitchens and caterers in Surat, and to fruit-drink makers across Gujarat and Maharashtra.
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