KPN
Fruit Shop, Palarivattom, Kochi
The Local Big Bargain Store for
Fresh Fruits & Vegetables
By – Lt Col (Retd) D Purushothaman Pillay
The famous
Coimbatore-based Fruits & Vegetables retail group, Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam
( KPN ) which when translated to English means - 'Coimbatore's - Orchard of
Fruits' - has opened a successfully running local store at Palarivattom, a
couple of months ago. This KPN Group, currently helmed by the young, dynamic
and visionary Senthil Natarajan, is in fact reputed to be the first branded
retail chain, purely dedicated to the business of fruits and vegetables in the
country. This Group is also one of the largest bulk importers of Apples,
Strawberries, Oranges, Pears and Citrus fruits from the US, Egypt, South
Africa, New Zealand and Australian markets since last year, they are also major
exporters of Mangoes, Pomegranates, Papayas and many varieties of vegetables to
the Middle East and Maldives.
The
rags-to-riches saga of how Senthil's father Natarajan Sr, rose from being just
a cleaner in a road-side fruit shop in 1953, before setting up, along with his
three brothers, in 1965, their first 400 odd square feet vegetable shop in
Coimbatore, to currently, owning a profitable chain of 40 odd outlets, with a
turnover in excess of Rs 150 Crores for FY 2011-2012; is the stuff legends are
made of.
The KPN
Group has a very expansive presence in Tamil Nadu, with around 20 vends in
Chennai alone, and around 10 in Coimbatore, besides shops in Cuddalore, Karur,
Pollachi, Tanjore, Trichy, Erode, Tirupur and neighboring Pondicherry. All the
KPN shops always have a customary juice corner, which serves the customers
fresh fruit juice and cut fruits, they are very popular among juice lovers of
the respective locations. Kochi is indeed privileged to have the first KPN
outlet, in Kerala due to the initiative of our own homegrown businessman Mr
Sajeev.
We as a family
have been regularly purchasing from this well-stocked shop in Palarivattom. We
always found a wide assortment of delicious seasonal fruits including exotic
varieties like - Apples, Pears, Oranges, Sweet lime, Mangoes, Pomegranates, Papaya,
Pineapples, Grapes, Plums, Bananas, Kiwi, Strawberry, Litchi, Guava, Sapota,
Longans, Purple Mangosteen, Rambutan, Durian, Peaches and many types of
Melon, Citrus and Banana varieties -
here.
As far as
the vegetables are concerned, all the regular requirements like Tomatoes,
Onions, Potatoes, Carrots, Garlic, Green
Chilies, Beans, Beetroot, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Drumstick, Brinjal, Okra,
Radish, Cucumber, Yam, Pumpkin, Squash, Sweet Potato etc are clean, fresh and
well stocked. Other than that, a wide miscellany of the more peregrine
varieties, like Mushroom, Brussels Sprouts,
Broccoli, Corn, Chinese Cabbage, Iceberg Lettuce, Avocado, Celery, Parsley,
Endive, Fennel, Leek are also available along with all other imaginable medley
of greens; one would love to throw into one's 'feel-good' gallimaufry soup. If
lucky, one would also chance upon the limited, occasional fresh Artichoke, Kale, Arugula and
Asparagus.
For the
wise ones who are looking for variety, freshness and quality, this is indeed
the one stop shop, we in Kochi are so lucky to have, courtesy the expansion of
the KPN network into Kerala. And the best thing is that, all this is available
at almost 15 to 20 % less than the regular market rates for the day, elsewhere
in the city. The exciting choice of greens must drive the health conscious
amongst us, to this shop for their vegetable needs and the fact that some of
the best fresh fruit juices are also available here, must surely be another added incentive to go here. Try it once, who knows like us, you may never go anywhere
else after that, for your regular vegetables.
KPN
Fruit Shop
Kochi
Outlet
Kanchanjunga
Building
Civil
Line Road, Palarivattom,
Kochi -
682025
Phones :
Shop -
Landline : 0484-4010102
Mr
Sajeev – Mobile : 9843558149
Website :
http://www.kovaipazhamudir.com/
Facebook
Page Link :
https://www.facebook.com/KPNfruitshop
Some of these places just stand out in the average din and chatter . Bravo for having hi lighted one such place . Your reviews are very comprehensive and indeed motivates others to try out themselves . Keep posting .
ReplyDeleteThank you dear Sir, you are among a few who seem to really understand the soul of the conception of my posts. I feel honoured and encouraged by your comments always. Once again a BIG thanks!*Hugs*
Delete
ReplyDeleteThank you , Chris, I found this exercise highly interesting.
Dry Fruits to Chennai
Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam in Trichy (Tiruchirapalli), Tamil Nadu, must also be part of this 'stuff legends are made of’ (Correct me if the Trichy shop happens to be operated by a cousin of a cousin of the grandson of a friend of the founder of Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam). I've been a regular customer of theirs till recently. On any given day, the display will include overripe vegetables, dried up yams, wilted greens and extremely overpriced and chemical-laden fruits that stay fresh probably due to preservatives.
ReplyDeleteMind you, Trichy and nearby rural areas contribute to a substantial share of vegetables traded in Tamil Nadu, including Oddanchatram market from where a major share of vegetables are imported into Kerala. The traders here exploit the farmers and are very picky when it comes to choosing vegetables they buy/trade. Even the slightest defect in their produce will result in the farmer losing even the chance to get half the going rate. So the vegetables sold at Trichy's Gandhi Market is always fresh. Yet, at Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam (Opposite Government Hospital, Trichy), customers can be seen bending the tip of okra to pick tender ones. A typical heap will always have a good share of over-ripe okra that couldn't stand the bend-or-break test. And the price? At least two thirds higher than the day's market price.
Col. Pillay, you were talking about their fresh juice corner. The sole reason for its existence in every shop of theirs seems to be the fact that short shelf life of certain vegetables and fruits offer an opportunity to convert the unsaleable produce into juice and make a killing (talk to the underpaid girls at the juice counter and you will attain enlightenment of a different kind).
I haven't been to the Kochi branch of KPN, and the pictures of the shop indeed look pleasing. What I cannot understand is why the group adopts a different attitude in its home state when it comes to procuring produce and displaying them.
And one more thing: Most of the vegetables these kind of shops sell is procured for a pittance (sometimes at prices that are way less than what it costs to produce them) and marked up 300% or above. This leaves the Tamil Nadu farmer with no choice but to increase the output, and that's how the farmer is forced to apply unsustainable quantities of chemical fertilisers and pesticides.
If you really care about your health and that of your readers, please find out more about your neighbourhood farmers (terrace farming or smallholding) who are likely to follow the organic way, and promote them.
In Trichy, there is an initiative by a group of people behind a charitable project to procure vegetables from farmers at a reasonable prices and sell them to the public fresh for very little mark-up. They claim to follow fair trade principles and are about to start a vegetable auction centre on Trichy-Thogamalai Main Road. They plan to first ensure a good price to the farmers and thus gain the latter's confidence. Once the farmers are guaranteed a base price, they can afford to convert their farms to organic farms. It looks like a sustainable idea and one that works for both the farmers and the consumers. The losers will of course be the middlemen and shops like Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam. They also have a retail shop at the same place (FairTrade Vegetables) that stock up fresh vegetables every day of the week. I’ll try to post pictures of the shop later.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteUpdate: Kovai Pazhamudir Nilayam, Trichy, has transformed beyond expectations. The shop now stocks fresh vegetables, and the pricing of produce is more tolerable now. I visited the shop in the late afternoon, and could see that except for a few items that were wilted, most of the vegetables were arranged neatly on the shelves. It’s highly likely that the staff now have more time in their hands to keep the display looking fresh, as I also noticed that there were only a couple of other shoppers in the shop, despite it being peak hour. Evenings used to be crowded in the KPN shop in the first few months of its existence. At the same time, the nearby மதுரை சந்தை, where they sell a few vegetables at ₹ 20 (and the rest at unreasonably high prices), was overflowing with customers. One can safely assume that KPN has lost its clientele by its complacency towards their own customers. Will KPN now match the freshness of the produce they sell with prices that are more reasonable? If the success of startups like மதுரை சந்தை and FairTrade Vegetables (where they sell as many as 30 vegetables and fruits for under ₹ 19, every day) is any indication, KPN has to rethink its strategies.
ReplyDeleteGood Blog, Thanks for sharing this !!
ReplyDeletefresh fruits and vegetables Trichy
Regards,
https://thehappymorning.com/
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