Since the last few years, Maha FPC has been holding mango festival where in growers from Konkan are allocated stalls in the Marketyard office of MahaFPC.

Last year, Thorat said, the festival saw a turn over of over Rs 80 lakh.

Every mango and every box have a QR code which allows consumers to verify and trace the mango they purchased
“Our endeavour is to allow growers access more . This year, we are to make use of our members to increase the reach more,” he said.

Thorat said this year they are planning to sell 10,000 boxes of five dozen mangoes each. “We have tied up with around 10 farmers and 1 FPC from Konkan for the festival,” he said.

Along with the traceability, MahaFPC will have a best before date labelled on every box and any mango which turns out to be of inferior quality will be replaced free of cost. Most of the sales outlets would be in tier 2 and 3 cities where FPCs operate.

This year Hapus- the signature mango from Konkan area of the state- is going to be available in a slightly more quantity than last year.

Growers have, however, asked consumers to check for the authenticity of the mangoes before purchasing them.

Mangoes from Karnataka are expected to be a plenty and growers from Konkan have asked consumers to be cautious before paying for mangoes being sold as Hapus.

The fruit which is grown in Konkan region can only use the term Hapus as it has got the GI tag