Every season Shimla's orchards throw up small, marked and hail-hit apples that fetch little in the market. A small unit in the Theog or Kotkhai belt can dry them into apple rings and ferment them into vinegar that keeps and sells all year.
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This unit buys low-grade apples from growers and turns them into two products that keep for months: dried apple rings, sliced and dried in a tray dryer, and apple cider vinegar, made by slowly fermenting apple juice.
The Shimla belt sells most of its apples fresh, and fruit that is small, marked or hit by hail sells cheaply. Drying and fermenting let you buy that fruit in a few busy weeks and sell all year. NABARD's 2023-24 credit plan for Shimla puts food and agro processing potential at ₹22.35 crore and notes that the state government supports fruit processing. The state horticulture university at Nauni, in neighbouring Solan district, trains people in fruit processing and can advise on method.
You need an FSSAI food licence, a slicer, a tray dryer, food-grade fermenting tanks and a clean, tiled room with good water. Vinegar passes through a wine-like first stage, so ask the state excise office whether you need its permission. The hard part is quality: dried rings go brown or soft if damp gets in, and vinegar must reach the right sourness before bottling. The state also buys culled apples at a fixed price in season, so pay growers fairly and quickly.
Sell to tourist shops in Shimla, health-food stores in Chandigarh, and online.
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Raw 80% · Processed 20%
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