Every summer, we see premium Alphonso mangoes being sold at extremely high prices in cities. But farmers in Konkan often report farm-gate prices that are a fraction of that.
So where is the money actually going?
Multiple layers of middlemen (agents, traders, wholesalers, retailers) each taking a cut
Lack of cold storage forcing distress sales
Weak farmer bargaining power in mandis
Branding and export margins captured by traders instead of farmers
Let’s talk numbers: If a consumer pays ₹1000/dozen and a farmer gets ₹300–₹400, that’s 60–70% of value lost in the chain.
Why hasn’t this been fixed yet?
Why aren’t Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) dominating Alphonso branding and exports?
Why is direct-to-consumer still a niche instead of the norm in 2026?
Why can’t farmers collectively bypass APMC mandis at scale?
Are logistics and perishability the real bottleneck, or is it policy failure?
Would like grounded answers, not theory: Anyone here who has actually worked in mango farming, supply chain, or exports—what’s the real constraint?
Because from the outside, it looks like the system is designed to keep farmers as price takers, even for a premium product like Alphonso.