Yes. It is really important marketing tool for the current scenario in India to sell mangoes through digital marketing.
First impression says that producing and selling mangoes is a traditional farming business in small level. But recent figures says that it’s a huge seasonal business and during 2018-19 there was a 116287.22 Metric ton Mangoes were exported till November 2018 worth 121.31 million US dollars.
So, it’s not a small family business anymore, but it is clearly a great way to be rich. Many other relevant businesses like ripening chambers, pre-cooling facilities and cold storage facilities are also a great supporting businesses.
Mango is the king of fruit in India and other western countries of world. Almost all states of India produces variety of mangoes as per available soil quality and growing atmospheric conditions.
Major Indian Mango Producing States:
Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Gujarat were respective major players in producing mangoes during 2017-18 with rise of approx. 11.87% than previous year. During 2017-18 these five states had produced 15561.29 metric tonnes.
One research study says that Mango is cultivated in land area of 1.23 million hectors with an annual mass production of 10.99 million tonnes, which is almost 57.18% of the total global mango production.
Types of Mangoes produced in India:
Mango is a real bless by god in India especially for middle & lower class children during summer. Almost all are waiting for the king of fruit for various reasons in different regions of India. Some loves that “Kachcha Aam” (row mango) with salt during their indoor gaming sessions. And almost all age people love the pickles made from raw mango. Let’s know the different varieties available in various states of India.
Andhra Pradesh : Safeda Mango
Safeda Mango can be easily found in Banganpalle town at first instance. This is usually larger than other types in India weighing 350-400 gms each. Safeda has thin and firm skin blended with sweetness in taste however it lacks fibre. It’s a rich source of Vitamin A and C.
Uttar Pradesh : Langra Mango
Langra mango is mostly found in Varanasi and its small in size but it looks like raw lemon yellow. Although it is really sweet in taste and largely available in Uttar Pradesh and other regions of the country.
Bihar : Gulab Khaas Mango
Blushing pink skin makes Gulab Khass Mango very special even being small in size. It is widely sold in Zarkhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
Karnataka : Badami Mango
Badami Mango is known as Karnataka-Alphonso which is mostly available in May till June months. Fruit size is normal in weight, not so big – not so small.
Tamil Nadu : Malgoa Mango
Malgoa mangoes can be identified by their nearly round shape and thick skin. It consists really good pulp and juice both with it’s big size.
Gujarat : Kesar Mango
As the name suggest Kesar (Saffron), this fruit is saffron coloured with too good sweetness in it. Kesar Mango is know as “Queen of Mangoes” due to sweet taste and pulp and it is found in Junagadh, Gujarat.
Apart from these major mango producing states, we can even get few other varieties named : Alphonso, Dasheri, Himsagar and Kishan Bhog, Chausa, Bombay Green, Totapuri, Neelam, Raspuri, Lakshmanbhog, Amrapali, Mankurad, Pairi, Mallika, Vanraj, Kilichundan, Rumani, Rajapuri etc in various states of India.
Farmer to End-user Journey of Mango Trade:
Since last few decades the business of mango hasn’t changed a bit. Farmers use to sell their mangoes in bulk to whole seller in nearby wholesale market. Wholesale businessman buys the produce at much much cheaper rates. He earns good stake in selling the same stock to different city major vendors in fruit markets. Retail vendors purchases from city’s big stockiest and sell the same mangoes to retail fruit shops or push carters. And we get the same from our nearby fruit seller.
If you closely observe the process, the price of mango goes almost 2.5 times than farmer price. And it has 4-5 layers of vendor and transporters are involved in adding their profits to the product. And consumer needs to pay for the same.
Apart from that a large stake of quality fresh mangoes is directly exported to UAE and West Asian countries. These exported mangoes have majority 3 usages : Juice, Pulp & Dry Slices to use throughout the year.
Many big fruit juice manufacturers like Frooti, Maaza & Slice also consume rich quality mangoes at premium price to make their long lasting fruit juices, pulp or pickles.
Digital Marketing can beneficially impact the Mango Trade :
We have noticed drastic change in consumer buying behaviour in last 20 years. Due to mass reach of social media platforms with great measuring and targeting tools we can achieve “segmented outreach to potential customer” through our digital marketing tools with really limited budget.
Traditional medias such as Newspaper, Hoardings, Radio Ads are very much costly than these new social media marketing. Additionally, we can’t get any timely analysis to make adjustments in marketing plan or budget spending. We even don’t know small customer behaviour patterns. Each and everything we need to manage manually by hiring individual experts.
We observed 3 major key elements in Mango Trade:
- Picking
- Packing
- Shipping
All these 3 elements must be followed by strict timely deadlines. Otherwise fruit might not be in good condition while in hands of end consumer.
Through Digital Marketing we can build awareness and create branding of product / brand. We can target audience with niche adjustments like gender, age, marital status, time, interest, geographic location and behaviour. This will ensure that single penny isn’t wasted. We can use relevant audience social media for the matching business type.
For any campaign creation we can attract customer through various ad types online like: Text Search Ad, Display Banner Ads, In-Video Ads on various social media. We can even retarget any customer through re-marketing campaigns with very tiny amount spend.
We have several ways to create online presence. First and foremost you can create your own e-Commerce website with payment gateway connected with various marketing platforms to automate the small steps in customer journey online.
Additionally, if you need readymade platforms with logistic facilities managed by them, you can go for amazon, shopify etc ready to use platforms. Where seller gets all the online systems readily available to use with some charges. But can surely manage more number of small orders with ease and without headache of logistics and order status management.
Increased Profits, Direct Selling & Timely Delivery:
Through Digital Marketing campaigns and lead generation campaigns we can convert potential customer towards ordering online. Let’s understand the same with Mango trade example:
- Timely Order Tracking: This will help mango farmer to pick only required quantity mangoes which is ordered today. Thus no more extra picking of mangoes and reduced wastage.
- Direct Selling: Direct selling will surely ensure that there are no more layers of sellers between mango farmer and end consumer. Thus no more profit sharing and benefitting direct customer.
- Timely Delivery: With good logistic partners through digital marketing directly with mango farmer, he can easily track all the delivery timings & delivery methods. Thus no more hiding or stocking of mangoes in between. End user will get fresh mangoes in no time.
Conclusion: With deep knowledge and proper initial investment on advertising, mangoes can surely be sold through digital marketing tools. Which will be a fresh and cost saving approach in long term and knowing your clients directly.
