Lulu Hypermarkets have launched the festival of Kashmiri apples as they received the first consignment this week. Lulu is the first retail store who have brought in and introduced Kashmiri apples to the local and expatriate communities living in Doha.
The festival was inaugurated by Ambassador of India to Qatar P Kumaran, in the presence of in the presence of Mohamed Althaf, Director and other senior officials from Lulu Hypermarkets, and various dignitaries from organizations namely Indian Cultural Centre, Indian Community Benevolent Fund, Indian Business Professional Council and Kerala Business Forum.
Speaking on the initiative, the Ambassador has commended the efforts taken by the Lulu Management in marketing Kashmiri apples in the region. He also added that ‘local farmers of Kashmir Valley will benefit in a big way with this initiative’.
Although several varieties of apples known to exist in cultivation in the valley of Kashmir, however, the festival mainly celebrates a huge collection of three special varieties of freshly picked apples from the valley of Kashmir.
These major varieties namely Kulu Delicious, Red Delicious and Oval apple are unique in taste and sweetness and have vibrant hues of colors and aroma. These varieties are of commercial importance internationally. The festival is expected to be a runaway success as always.
The initiative to export apples from Kashmir to Lulu Hypermarkets was developed in a discussion held in the recent past between Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Yusuffali M.A., Chairman and Managing Director of Lulu Hypermarkets where it was agreed in principle to set up a logistics hub in Srinagar and start export of Kashmiri apples to Lulu stores on a regular basis.
The festival will run until November 24, 2019 at all Lulu stores in Qatar.