Meghalaya Pineapple Sales Double to 30 Tonnes at Delhi Festival

Over 30 tonnes of Meghalaya pineapples were sold at the fourth state pineapple festival in New Delhi last week, nearly double the 15.4 tonnes recorded in 2025, the state government said. The inaugural edition in 2023 sold 7.7 tonnes.

The festival has evolved from a consumer introduction to a platform that now connects institutional buyers. The 2025 edition brought in Reliance Fresh, Amazon Karigar and Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, and launched the Meghalaya Agriculture Strategy 2028.

Meghalaya produces more than 1.4 lakh tonnes of pineapples annually from roughly 12,600 hectares, with cultivation concentrated in Ri-Bhoi, Garo Hills and parts of the Khasi region. The fruit is rain-fed and known for its sweetness and a Brix value of 16-18, well above the national average, the government said.

The state has adopted an integrated approach built on farmer collectives, processing capacity and branding. The ecosystem includes 40 PRIME hubs, 12 of which are operational, supported by over 650 spoke facilities for aggregation, storage and primary processing.

Fresh pineapples sold through organised retail fetch about ₹22 per kg. After processing into premium retail packs, churrasco pineapple and export-grade frozen cubes, the same fruit can sell for up to ₹1,500 per kg. Farmers integrated into these value chains have seen income gains of as much as 80%, the government said.

The Jirang Organic Agro Farmer Producer Company in Ri-Bhoi district, founded in 2017, now has 433 farmers across 18 villages, nearly 75% of whom are women. It supplies Lulu Group, Reliance Retail, Safal-Mother Dairy and Blinkit. Revenues rose from ₹1.5 lakh in the 2017-21 period to over ₹1.17 crore in 2025, the statement said.

More than 100 tonnes of Meghalaya pineapples have been marketed through organised domestic and international channels. In June 2026, a 2-tonne consignment was sent to Lulu Retail in Dubai.