Efforts are being made by growers to sell it locally or supply it to big companies.
Frozen ripe jackfruit is the latest addition to the growing market of value-added products from jackfruit.
Bibil Thomas, a 29-year-old software engineer from Kumily in Idukki district of Kerala, has launched Jackobyte, which retails frozen ripe bulbs of jackfruit with a shelf life of three months. However, if blast freezing is done (-40 degree Celsius) the stock will last for two years, he says.
Bibil launched Jackobyte over a year ago. “It started when I got an order for 10 tonnes of ripe jackfruits from ice cream-major Vadilal in 2017. I sold 10 such loads in a month. When I delved deep into the industry, I realised that there is a market for frozen products as well. Now I am in talks with a supermarket chain to market Jackobyte,” he explains.
Farm journalist Shree Padre, who has been leading the campaign to promote jackfruit for many years now, is akin to a mentor for Bibil. Shree Padre says that while countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand are marketing frozen jackfruit, both ripe and raw, in a big way, India is way behind.