Adani Agri Fresh enters stone fruit category with cherry procurement in Himachal

Adani Agri Fresh Limited (AAFL) has announced its entry into the stone fruit category, beginning with cherry procurement in Himachal Pradesh from the coming season.

The announcement was made during ‘Fruit Horizon 2026’, a two-day conference organised by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the Department of Horticulture, in Lucknow.

At this conference, the Horticulture Department of Himachal Pradesh and the state’s Stone Fruit Growers Association had highlighted the export potential of fruits like cherry, plum and apricot to the Middle East countries due to early harvest in April and May.

Speaking at the event, Manish Agarwal, Business Head, AAFL, said the company would initially procure cherries and later expand into other stone fruits such as peaches and plums.

“This builds on our experience in apple sourcing and our continued focus on improving market access for farmers,” he said.

He further said that the move was aimed at improving shelf life, widening market access and ensuring better price discovery for growers.

AAFL has been among the early organised players in apple procurement, storage and marketing in Himachal Pradesh.

Since starting operations in 2006 under the Farm-Pik brand, the company claims to have procured over 3 lakh metric tons of apples from more than 17,000 farmers, with direct payouts of around Rs 1,500 crore.

The company has developed a cumulative storage capacity of 25,000 metric tons in Himachal to improve shelf life and expand market reach for fruit growers.

The company is also expanding its digital mandi initiative, which allows farmers to sell produce remotely without visiting procurement centres.