Can Adani do with apples what Mahindra did with grapes?

<p>Adani started buying apples in Himachal Pradesh two decades ago. Not because it wanted to be in the fruit business — but because it wanted to own the cold chain that nobody else was building.</p><p>Now the India-New Zealand free trade agreement is about to test Indian apple growers like never before. New Zealand yields 50 to 70 tonnes per hectare. Himachal Pradesh averages 7 to 8.</p><p>Adani just expanded into cherries, plums, and peaches — fruits even more perishable than apples. The bet is the same as it always was: whoever controls refrigeration, controls the market.</p><p><strong><em>Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. </em></strong><a href="https://the-ken.com/pricing/"><strong><em>Subscribe</em></strong></a><strong><em> for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.</em></strong></p>