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Sumila
Jayaraj from Thrissur, a post-graduate in English Literature, had joined a virgin
coconut oil company as an employee just to kill time for 8 months till her
husband came back from Gulf. Though she had
not even heard the name virgin coconut oil till then, she soon became aware of
its significance and usefulness from the orders and enquiries from customers,
especially abroad.
As she
became curious, job became a passion for her and she picked up the nitty-gritty
of the whole gamut of the company’s operations.
She soon rose up to become the director of the firm. But a desire to stand on her own feet saw her
start her own virgin oil extraction unit in a shed in her backyard with three
employees.
Initial
hiccups in distribution sometimes forced her to personally deliver the product to
the customers by driving the vehicle herself.
At some moments, she felt like calling it quits.
All the
stock produced by her unit used to be sold out. So she thought of expanding her
products. A plot was found, the expanded unit was erected and production
started there.
Slowly,
coconut milk was added to the product line, besides chammanti and vinegar. With
a 11-member workforce, her unit makes 8 different types coconut-based products
now. These are available online and in
bulk order.
Thus, from
scratch, this homemaker with no entrepreneurial training, is realizing her
dream and at the same time giving employment to a handful of locals.
Aleena
Maria Varghese, Mathrubhumi, August 12, 2023
