Aphrodite's Orchard commenced in the late 1990's in the verdant surroundings of Anupinakatte Village on the outskirts of Shimoga city which is located in the famous Malnad area of Karnataka State. Completely owned and controlled by Mamun Raheel, a postgraduate Pharmacist who, at the age of 40, changed his almost 20 year career as a Pharmacy specialist into that of a full-fledged mango grower out o
f sheer love for the fruit. He personally guarantees the quality and total safety of the mangoes directly marketed by him under the "Malnad Mangoes" brand. Only fruits grown in our own orchard of 600+ trees is marketed under this brand name to again ensure the overall quality and safety of the mangoes. As a result, the total quantity of mangoes available may vary each year as mangoes are widely known to be irregular bearers in alternate years. What started off as a hobby has now grown into a full blown enterprise which grows quality mangoes as per the protocol provided by the IIHR (Indian Institute of Horticultural Research), in Hessarghatta, Bangalore. Optimal growing practices ensure production of possibly the best tasting as well as the safest mangoes in the state. Apart from the superb taste, what sets "Malnad Mangoes" apart in a class of its own is the total safety of the fruit which is "100% GUARANTEED". The IIHR mandated Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices ensure that the finally harvested fruit is totally free from any pesticide/fungicide residue. The final clinching factor that makes our mangoes the safest is that absolutely no artificial means are employed to ripen the fruit. Unlike the common practice of picking half ripe fruits and then artificially ripening them using dangerous chemicals such as "Calcium Carbide", our fruits are handpicked from the trees only when they are almost completely ripe. An ancient and time-tested rule of thumb that is followed in our orchard is they are picked only after the birds start to eat some of the fully ripe fruits which clearly indicates that the harvest time has come. The handpicked fruits are then transported in plastic crates to a purpose built mango pack-house where they are sorted and packed into cardboard boxes with rice straw (hay) as the filling material. They are then transported to Bangalore the same day/night and delivered to you, the final customers within the next few days. Final ripening will then happen in your own house under your total control without any artificial intervention. One negative aspect of this process is that you will have to wait for a few days for the fruits to fully ripen before you can relish them, which we believe is a small price to pay when you are getting such delightfully tasty and safe mangoes for your family to cherish and enjoy. This process can be somewhat hastened by just keeping the box in a warm and dry place. However, the box has to be opened each day and individual fruits checked for ripening.
