Bhubaneswar: Roadside fruit salads aren’t only about ripened bananas and papayas slip-sliding together in a paper bowl. You can also expect slices of dragon fruit, mangoes and other seasonal fruits, making up the perfect mélange of fruity flavours for only Rs 40 per plate. And, it isn’t the only shocker! What’s even more astonishing is the quantity. This street vendor offers 1.5 kg of fruit salad for Rs 40 a plate.
Located near Durga Mandap in Saheed Nagar area of Bhubaneswar, the stall — ‘Maa Durga Snacks’ — is run by Purna Chandra Parmanik. Though Parmanik has been running his stall there for about five years, the ‘fruit salad’ idea struck him recently.
“The pandemic has affected the food business. We incurred losses due to the lockdown. Three months back, I decided to revive my food business. Considering the current situation, I thought of selling food items that will boost people’s immunity. And, what other than fruits could do the best in this regard,” said Parmanik.
To make the salad taste distinctly different from the usual ones sold along the arterial roads in the city, Parmanik incorporated variety into it. “From apples, banana, papaya, dragon fruit, mandarin, oranges to two varieties of grapes, you name a fruit and it finds a place in the salad. I also add sprouts and groundnuts to it. To spice it up, I sprinkle a mixture of rock salt and chaat masala,” he said.
For his customers, the plateful salad is an appropriate substitute for high-carb meals for lunch.
But, how does he sustain the business even after offering such unthinkable quantities for a lesser price? To this, Parmanik has a grin on his face and his eyes sparkles as he said: “I want more and more customers to drop in at my shop. The profit will follow.”
No wonder, Parmanik is particular about the quality. Every morning, he procures the fruits himself from his ‘trusted’ wholesale vendors.
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