Kerala Woman Turns ₹74 Lakh Loan into Profitable Coconut Oil Business

When Sumila Jayaraj, a native of Kerala, was studying Zoology and English Literature during her undergraduate and Master’s degrees in college, she had no idea that she would go on to become a pioneer in coconut processing in the state.

After getting married and having kids, Sumila realized she wanted to do something of her own. 

Her husband had moved abroad for a project and being home alone just wasn’t suiting her.

Talking to Startup Pedia in an interview, Sumila Jayaraj says, “Honestly, I was just bored. After a time, kids grow up and begin leading their own lives. As a mother, you have to restart your life as well.”

Eventually, she secured a job as the Assistant Manager in a manufacturing company revolving around coconuts.

Here, she spent the next 3 years understanding the world of coconuts, and how they’re sourced, processed, and ultimately sold.

This job was also one of the first moments when she developed and honed her passion for coconuts.

The primary product that Sumila and her team were selling was Virgin Coconut Oil.

Even though this was her first official job, Sumila was doing great.

She even cracked the first export order for the company and brought in great business.

“One day, we got an order from the United States. I was in charge of helping the customer go through the process. While we were talking to each other, he advised me to get a documentary and testimonials for the product. He said that would significantly boost our business and add credibility to what we were doing. This idea stayed with me,” Sumila tells Startup Pedia.

After a few days, Sumila got in touch with a certified doctor from Kerala and asked him to feature in a documentary about coconuts that she was trying to bring together.

The doctor was working in a cancer research institute at that time and was more than happy to provide a testimonial of the product and review the benefits of coconuts in general.

“The doctor extensively talked about how coconuts are a great preventative measure against cancer. This testimonial manifested in the company receiving multiple orders from across the world, including New Zealand and Germany,” she adds.

After a period of three years, Sumila decided to quit the job and start something of her own.

That ‘something’, no points for guessing, was coconuts!

THE BEGINNING OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

With very little financial savings to fall back on, Sumila knew that going all out and establishing a large coconut processing unit wasn’t viable.

So in 2012, she put in whatever she had and started Green Nut International from a small unit next to her house.

When asked about her initial team, Sumila says, “I had a handful of rural women and one driver who were helping me with distribution. That’s pretty much it. It was a small venture but very close to my heart.”

Since the company was sourcing coconuts in very small quantities, extracting coconut oil was the most the business did.

This was Sumila’s first business and of course, constant learning and improvement was a part of it.

She even undertook training at the Coconut Development Board, which is a Central Government’s institute in Kochi.

As time went by, Green Nut International secured a corporate order. This was when the real progress started.

From 2012 to 2017, the business ran as usual, but Sumila Jayaraj had bigger plans.

GREEN AURA INTERNATIONAL

In 2017, Sumila put an end to her previous venture.

Explaining the rationale behind this, she tells Startuppedia, “Green Nut International taught me a lot. It was in many ways my first exposure to getting a business started and successfully running it. However, I wanted to expand and enter the space of value-added coconut products. For that, a larger manufacturing and processing unit was needed. A lot of other things like securing a license were needed.”

From 2017 to 2020, Sumila worked on buying a piece of land and working towards setting up a new manufacturing unit.

She also tagged behind many authorities to grant her various permits and licenses. 

Talking about the initial struggle, Sumila says, “There was a point in time when I thought that nothing was working for me. I would keep going to various offices only to be sent back. Sometimes they would tell me my documents weren’t right, other times they would find other faults. But I persisted. I knew that building a business as a woman was going to be difficult, but I had already signed up for it. There was no turning back.”

After the Covid-19 pandemic eased down a little in 2021, Sumila Jayaraj finally launched her Company - Green Aura International.

She secured a term loan of Rupees 74 lakhs from the State Bank of India.

The total cost of setting up the manufacturing unit was Rupees 1.8 crore. Out of this, the bank gave an extra Rupees 20 lakhs as working capital.

Sumila and her team began manufacturing and supplying value-added coconut products like coconut milk, extra virgin coconut oil, coconut water vinegar, coconut sambar powder, chutney powder, and coconut laddoos.

GROWTH & SALES

At present, Green Aura International employs 9 rural women who help at the manufacturing and processing unit. 

The company sells mainly through Amazon and Indiamart.

While selling its own products, Sumila’s business also reaps in revenue by offering co-branding opportunities to other companies. 

Simplifying it for us, she says, “This basically happens when a company wants to use our pure coconut bases, oils, and products, and package them in their own brand name.”

Initially, Green Aura International was only selling to domestic supermarket chains but now has expanded to other retail stores of Indian metro cities. 

The company is also exporting pure coconut products to USA and Canada and working in co-branding collaborations from companies in the West.

While Sumila Jayaraj refuses to share any intricate details about the business revenue, she tells Startuppedia that the business is doing good and is profitable with healthy margins. 

LOOKING AHEAD

Sumila has big plans for the future. She has recently acquired an industrial estate of 2000 square feet. 

Here, Green Aura International would start a dedicated manufacturing unit for 100% natural cosmetic and wellness products with coconut as their primary ingredient.

Sumila Jayaraj signs off by saying, “A chain reaction is what I am trying to work towards. Green Aura International sources its coconuts from domestic farmers and pays them fairly. This in turn encourages them to scale. More rural women also get employment opportunities. People get interested and approach us for formal training in the space. And ultimately, coconut gets the recognition and awareness that it deserves.”