Bengaluru: Fruits cost less at Hopcoms after employees threaten to strike

Some fruits have started costing lesser in Hopcoms-owned stores in Bengaluru, on Monday.

This comes days after employees threatened to stage a protest, questioning the ‘rigged’ pricing mechanism adopted by the Horticultural Producers’ Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society for fruits and vegetables.

On Monday, a packet of blueberries cost Rs 120 as against the earlier Rs 175. Similarly, a packet of strawberries cost Rs 38. It was Rs 55 earlier.

DH had reported about the steep prices at Hopcoms, which was neither helping the farmers nor the customers. Even though Hopcoms was found selling fruits with a margin of 40 to 70%, the farmers were increasingly moving away from selling their products to the society as it did not pay on time.

'Fixing many issues'

A senior Hopcoms official said that they are trying to fix multiple issues, including the delay in payments to the farmers.

“If the issue of delay of payments is fixed, we will be able to procure fruits and vegetables for a lesser price and sell it to the customers for a price that is far lesser than the market price,” he said, adding there is not much difference between the prices at private markets and products sold at Hopcoms.