OUTLET EXCLUSIVE FOR COCONUT PRODUCTS LAUNCHED IN KERALA

All coconut products will be made available to the people under one umbrella, Minister for Agriculture V.S. Sunil Kumar has said after the inauguration of Coconut Shoppe, an initiative of the Coconut Development Board, at the Horticorp outlet at Palayam in India’s Kerala State.  Coconut products made by 29 producer companies, including the Kerala State Coconut Development Corporation, under the Coconut Development Board will be available at Coconut Shoppe.  

The Minister said the sales centre was first among the initiatives taken up in the wake of the State declaring the period from August 2017 to August 2018 as the ‘Year of the Coconut’. Baiju S. Simon, general manager, Coconut Development Board, said only products made from coconut palms in the State were being stocked at Coconut Shoppe.  Products such as virgin coconut oil, neera, desiccated coconut, and coconut milk powder are available at Coconut Shoppe at discounted prices.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the Kerala State government is exploring the development of Kozhikode, a city in the state, into a coconut marketing hub and the Vengeri agricultural market into a coconut-centric  international market, according to Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar.  An extensive meeting of coconut farmers, companies, scientists and experts will be covened in Kozhikode in October.