A highly resourceful fruit with numerous health benefits, coconut is used across a wide range of applications, especially in the food & beverages and cosmetic & personal care industries. As the largest coconut-producing country in the world, the coconut product industry in India contributes a whooping over Rs.30000 crore annually to the country’s GDP. Keeping the market opportunities in mind, many startups as well as known brands have entered the Indian coconut product market space. However, one firm that stands out from the rest of the organizations in terms of groundbreaking innovations, wide product portfolio, accomplishments, and client base, is Sakthi Coco Products (SCP).
A Humble Beginning
Started in 1981, SCP has come a long way under the tutelage of its inspiring leader Kamaraj C.M and is currently considered one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of coconut & coir products in the country while achieving numerous awards for excellence throughout in research and innovations in coconut and coir processing. Hailing from an agricultural family in Pollachi, Coimbatore, Kamaraj was three years old when his family migrated to Thrissur, Kerala, where he completed his schooling, B.com, and later, his MBA degree. Being heavily inspired by his father Subramania Gounder, a hardworking individual, Kamaraj shifted to Pollachi after his education and started looking for suitable opportunities in the Coconut Product industry.
During that time, Dr. N. Mahalingam, a business tycoon from Pollachi, encouraged him to take over a factory that was working on extracting and selling coir fiber in bundles. “My continuous involvement in the industry fetched more opportunities to meet and regularly interact with leading coconut cultivating farmers, coir products exporters, and coir technology machine manufacturers, which further helped me study new techniques for coconut powder manufacturing, also known as desiccated coconut powder. Probably in the year 1983, I finally got the opportunity to supply coconut powder to many leading biscuit manufacturing companies, including Britannia biscuits.”, says Kamaraj.
An Inspiring Journey to Success
Kamaraj started Sakthi Coir Exports, the first mechanized unit in Pollachi, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, in 1981. His extensive experience in maintaining machines led him to further venture into subordinate product manufacturing by starting a coconut powder manufacturing unit in 1985. Around 2002, he came across an idea to deviate his production technique by further researching the utilization of the coir dust. “A by-product, coco peat is collected abundantly during the extraction of coconut fiber from coconut husk. Every coir factory in those days faced problems with the disposal of wasted coir dust.
I joined hands with the soil science department at Tamilnadu Agriculture University, Coimbatore. My continuous research work of five years resulted in the fruitful invention of utilizing coco peat as an alternative to soil for convenient growing plants”, adds Kamaraj. Later, Kamaraj developed a technology to compress the coir peat into a finished product block for exporting to Europe and Australia. As a first-time exporter from India, he also has won many laurels for his achievements.
A farsighted leader, Kamraj has an excellent understanding of the market’s pulse & has been able to recognize new coconut products, especially in other coconut-producing countries, such as Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines & so on
Pioneering the Bottling of Tender Coconut Water
Kamaraj has also pioneered the sale of tender coconut water as a consumer product in India. After deciding to venture into the processing and bottling of tender coconut water in 2003, he had to face a lot of hurdles while making it work. The machines he initially invested in didn’t provide the desired output or an extended shelf life of six months. With the help of the Coconut Development Board (CDB) and Defense Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), he later made many changes in the production technique. Apart from helping him with the production techniques, those two government departments also extended financial subsidies for the investment. Today, he can manufacture around 100000 bottles and tetra packs of tender coconut water per day with an extended shelf life.
"Before deciding on a business venture, we need to study and analyze all aspects of the industry, which includes discussions with stakeholders, raw material availability, & technology analysis
Achievements & Expertise
A farsighted leader, Kamraj has an excellent understanding of the market’s pulse and has been able to recognize new coconut products, especially in other coconut-producing countries, such as Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and so on. Over the years, he has been collaborating with stakeholders from those countries to develop new technologies in the industry. Since 1998, Kamaraj has consistently been nominated as a board member in various Coconut product and coir-based organizations by the central government. His latest research involves utilizing matured coconut water as a value-added product in the medical field.
Kamraj was also instrumental in convincing various buyers in Spain, Portugal, and Italy to use half cut oval shaped empty coconut shells as containers to fill coconut-based ice cream which was marketed in the Barcelona Olympics and was well appreciated by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, who further honored him with awards and appreciations.
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