Kulgam apple juice, cider-vinegar & dried-snack unit

Kulgam pairs substantial apple cultivation in its Kapran orchards with existing apple grading and farm-processing units and a high-value horticulture base — yet almost all fruit moves out fresh, and lower grades fetch poor prices or spoil. This unit captures the apple-to-juice-cider-and-dried-snack gap, sharpening the existing card to the single apple thread and dropping the bolted-on cuisine brand. A processing line makes not-from-concentrate juice, apple cider vinegar, and dried apple snacks, deliberately built to absorb grade-B and surplus fruit that the fresh market rejects — turning a loss into product. Buyers are health-food retailers, modern-trade chains, and online natural-foods platforms drawn to a Kashmir-origin story. It builds on the apple-grading units and high-value horticulture base. What it takes: FSSAI compliance and food-safety auditing, cold storage to extend the processing window past a compressed harvest, juice and fermentation process control for vinegar consistency, and distribution outside the valley. The honest risk is harvest seasonality and the cold-storage cost it forces. Start with juice and dried slices (simplest, fastest cash), add cider vinegar as the fermentation process stabilises.