Web Applications for Pineapple Traders in Muvattupuzha and Vazhakulam

Vazhakulam, near Muvattupuzha in Ernakulam district, is the centre of Kerala's pineapple trade. Vazhakulam Pineapple received a Geographical Indication in 2009, and the market supplies wholesale buyers across south India and in north Indian cities such as Delhi and Mumbai. Much of the fruit is grown on leased land, often as an intercrop while young rubber plantations are being replanted.

A merchant's day involves buying from many growers, grading the fruit by size and ripeness, agreeing rates that move with demand from distant markets, loading trucks and tracking what each buyer owes. Advances to growers, transport costs and returns for spoiled loads all affect the margin, and they are usually reconciled by hand at the end of the season.

We build web applications that hold that whole cycle in one place, usable on a phone at the collection point and on a desktop in the office.

Collection points are in plantations and roadside sheds, not offices. The purchase screen therefore needs large buttons, very few fields and the ability to keep working when the mobile signal drops, syncing entries when the connection returns.

Malayalam labels can be added for staff who prefer them, and each entry records who made it and when, so disputes with growers or buyers can be settled from the record rather than from memory. Owners can see the day's purchases and dispatches from anywhere, including while travelling to meet buyers.