94 year-old coconut manufacturing firm goes for value addition to save dwindling coconuts
S. A. Silva and Sons Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, now in its 94th year and one of the Sri Lanka oldest coconut- products manufacturing companies, has stepped in to save a substantial quantity of coconuts by popularising and promoting value added, easy to use coconut products at a time when the country is facing a shortage of nuts.
The company currently managed by the third generation of the S.A. Silva family is optimizing the limited resources while introducing value added products to the local market that will prevent over use and wastage of coconuts, Amitha Silva, Chief Marketing Officer/Director of the company told the Business Times.
The price per coconut is now around Rs. 60 to 80 at present and mostly determined by the national annual coconut production of the country.
The fragmentation of coconut lands, pest and disease menace and low outturn of a new variety of coconuts (reduction in weight of kernel per nut), poor management practices and bad weather conditions has caused a shortage of coconuts escalating prices unbearable for consumers, he explained.
If the local consumer is supplied with hygienically packed and easy to use coconut milk it makes efficient use of coconuts saving up to at least 300 million nuts per annum, he added.
The average annual production of coconut is in the range of 2.7 billion to 2.8 billion nuts without any progressive increase over the past decade. The productivity of land is also almost stagnant at 3,000 nuts per annum/acre, Mr. Silva revealed.
At the same time on average 75 per cent of the nut production is consumed locally and local consumption has been on the increase over the years due to the population growth.
In order to meet the high demand and as a remedy to tackle shortage and price escalation, the company has recently introduced a new and innovative product, ‘SILVERMILL Real Coconut Milk’ to the local market at a low price, he said.
It comes in “Tetra Packs”, hygienically packed to retain freshness and excellent quality, he said adding that taste, texture and aroma makes SILVERMILL Real Coconut Milk as good as freshly extracted coconut milk without the time consuming traditional problems of breaking, scraping and extracting milk from fresh coconut, thereby offering great convenience for housewives, he pointed out.
The company which is ISO 22000, HACCP, Kosher and BRC certified is engaged in the procurement, processing and export of coconut-based products to major markets of the world including the US, Russia, Australia and Japan.
Fresh coconut milk, prepared by a process of extraction, is homogenized and UHT treated as a process of Tetra Packaging. UHT or Ultra High Temperature treatment is the highest form of technology available in the world today to sterilize coconut milk at a high temperature, but for a very short time, to preserve taste and nutrition,
The coconut milk produced thus is of a consistent quality with each and every 330 ml Tetra Pack and it is free from preservatives, colouring and flavouring, he added.
“Coconut milk is considered an essential item in the diet of all Sri Lankans to the extent that we have the highest per capita consumption of fresh coconut in the world,” he pointed out.
A consumer pack would be sufficient to prepare two meals for an average family of four to five members. Usage per curry would depend on individual preferences for the thickness of curries prepared, he disclosed.