Fruit Market

Fruit Market The fruit market in Manekchowk, started in 1942.

Khetaji

Khetaji Motiji has a three shops in this market since the last 35 years and supplies fruits to Agashiye, House of MG. The then-manager of Agashiye, Govindbhai Patel got in contact with him when the restaurant opened 20 years ago and he has been supplying fruits to the restaurant since.

He opens the shop at 5:00 in the morning and closes at 9:00 in the night. The shop is run by 4 people. Khetaji buys the fruits in wholesale from Vijaymil Market in Naroda. His son, Hasmukhbhai, goes to the market every morning and selects the fruits himself. He does not buy the fruits from a fixed supplier in the market, but he checks the quality of fruits and buys them from different suppliers according to the requirement.

The suppliers send the ordered fruits in a loading rickshaw to Khetaji’s shop. Once the fruits arrive at the shop, he checks their quality again and grades them,according to their finish, look and how ripe they are, into ek (one) number, bey (two) number and tron (three) number, ek number being the finest quality. According to the grading, he decides the rates of the fruits.

He supplied fruits to many hotels and restaurants in the beginning but gradually stopped doing so due to issues with payment. Now, he supplies only to a few hotels, including Agashiye, where he does not face problems with the payment.

Hasmukhbhai

Delivery of fruits at The House of MG

The fruits are sent to Agashiye, everyday between 8:00 to 9:00 in the morning in a pedal rickshaw, according to the order placed the previous night. They send only ek number quality fruits to Agashiye. If the quality of fruits is not up to the mark, Agashiye sends the fruits back to him and he accepts the returns, as he believes that he should adhere to the quality of fruits he promised. The fruits which start to rot in Khetaji’s shop are either thrown away or given to the needy. They remove the rotten part and cut the rest into small pieces and sell them.

The relation between Khetaji and House of MG has lasted this long due to the quality of fruits delivered by him.