The Indian Bhagwa pomegranate has been marketed under the Kimaye brand by INI Farms since 2011. These pomegranates are hand picked from INI's own farms and a network of other growers. INI Farms has GlobalGap certified farms. The Bhagwa variety has a long shelf life and has dark red arils. The arils are sweet to taste and have edible seeds unlike most other varieties in the market. INI manage 800 acres of which the majority is new plantation. Kalpesh Khivasara, General Manager at INI Farms says they expect to harvest more than 1000 tons this season. The season runs from June – October and from December - April.
60 – 80% of the production goes for export with Europe being the largest market. The Indian domestic market is willing to pay a premium for quality and better packing and is slowly realizing the food safety issues. The establishment of modern retail stores ensures that the fruit reaches the end consumer in the shortest possible time with the highest quality.
The Kimaye brand is used for all for export markets while in the domestic market, the company are in talks to launch a Kimaye co-brand with a leading retailer.
INI Farms took part in this year's Fruit Logistica in Berlin to introduce its Kimaye pomegranates to a wider audience. The company received great response from visitors across the world. Service providers, importers, retailers from Netherlands, Spain, France, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Germany, UK and Middle East visited the stand and were impressed by the fruit quality and round-the-year supplies.
The “Kimaye Fruit Tasting” session provided the visitors a flavour of the Bhagwa variety in terms of taste. The packaging of Kimaye boxes was universally liked.
