Aroma Group of companies, which has its headquarters in Dubai, is making a foray into the Karnataka market with the launch of its chemical/fertiliser/pesticide-free food stores, branded ‘Aroma Fresh’ in Bangalore.

The ₹600-crore group opened three stores in Bangalore on Saturday and is all set to open seven more across the city by the year-end. The company also plans to open 20 stores in Kerala over the next two years in addition to the five in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi last June.

From fresh fruits and vegetables to pulses, spices, tea, coffee, cereals, natural cosmetics, neutral cleansers and soaps, aromatic and massage oils, the stores will offer 200 products that are Global GAP certified (Good Agricultural Practices).

“We are investing ₹50 crore in 2014 and 2015 to ramp up our Aroma Fresh store footprint in Karnataka and Kerala. We will also acquire farmland to grow fruits and vegetables to add to our existing farms spread across 145 acres in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,” said Sajeev PK, Chairman, Aroma Group of companies.

Scaling up

At present, the company sources 60 per cent of the fruits and vegetables for its Aroma Fresh stores from its own farms and poly farms, while the rest is sourced from small farmers who are trained to run certified organic farms by the company.

Plans are on to scale up production from the company-owned farms from 45 tonnes to 280 tonnes by the year-end.

Precision farming

“We practice precision farming, a high-tech procedure with less dependence on labour, where water and nutrients are directly fed to plants through drip irrigation techniques. We employ 200 agriculture graduates and Diploma holders,” said Anne Sajeev, Managing Director, Aroma Fresh.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW