Coconut board plans innovative products

KOCHI: Urban Indians, who have seen only a few coconut products like coconut oil and tender coconut water, will soon be deluged with a variety of products if the idea initiated by Coconut Development Board (CDB) bears fruit.

CDB plans to market products like virgin coconut oil, coconut milk, milk powder and cream, desiccated coconut powder, coconut chips, ball copra and natural vinegar. "We have started the process of evolving a marketing strategy with innovative set of products, a distribution team, market survey and a consortium of existing manufacturers,'' said TK Jose, chairman, CDB. The Board will focus on 63 cities under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Coconut prices are entirely dependent on the demand for coconut oil and copra and the idea is to reduce this dependency by introducing innovative products. Jose said coconut milk, desiccated coconut powder, virgin coconut oil and even tender coconut water imported from Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines have entered India, indicating demand.

The Board intends to facilitate the setting up of 100 tender coconut water and desiccated coconut powder manufacturing units, 50 chips-making units and five virgin coconut oil enterprises in the next few years. "The production of coconuts in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka has gone up. It remains to be seen how they are channelised into innovative products,'' said Talath Mehmood, president of Cochin Oil Merchants Association. Technology is readily available and the cost of setting up a plant is not high but entrepreneurs are reluctant to enter the fray until they are assured of sufficient raw material supply and a good market.

Initially, CDB plans to make use of cooperative network and consumer federations for distributing new products. As the number of units increases, a consortium of the players can be formed which can undertake the generic promotion of such products through exhibitions.