Post by Startup Home

Managed by Manu Merlin and his brother, Merlin Mangosteen Farm is an agricultural venture in Kerala that converted a 5-acre family property into a commercial exotic fruit and agri-tourism operation. Manu, a certified fitness trainer, and his brother, a former corporate accountant, oversee the daily operations of their 40-year-old family farm in Chalakudy, Kerala. Four decades ago, their father chose not to cultivate conventional regional crops such as arecanut and nutmeg, and instead opted to grow mangosteen. "When my father started planting mangosteen 40 years ago, other farmers used to ask him if he was mad. They couldn't understand what he would do with such a crop. I knew continuing this journey would not be easy, but today our entire harvest gets booked in advance because demand is so strong," Manu Merlin tells Startup Pedia. Currently, the farm maintains 800 mature mangosteen trees. The farm yields 30 tonnes of fruit annually. Alongside the fruit harvest, their nursery division distributes over 50,000 saplings during the monsoon season, with prices ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 500 per plant. To navigate the restricted two-month harvest window, the brothers established a direct-to-consumer model through social media, eliminating the use of traditional wholesale markets. By marketing the farm as a transit stop for tourists traveling to the nearby Athirappilly waterfalls, the farm registers 300 to 500 walk-in customers on weekends. Customers purchase the produce directly from the orchards. Merlin Mangosteen Farm is collaborating with pharmaceutical researchers to evaluate discarded mangosteen rinds for antioxidant extraction and subsequent health product manufacturing. Through its combined nursery plant distributions and direct retail fruit sales, Merlin Mangosteen Farm generates an estimated annual revenue between Rs 90 Lakhs-Rs 1.2 Crores. Visit the Startup Pedia website to read the full article. #startuphome #keralafarming #exoticfruits #indianfarmers #agribusiness

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