Jackfruit,the State Fruit of Kerala has climbed its status from being just a fruit which was meant for the birds and squirrels and left to rot during the monsoon months to an International Status.This was only due to the hard and everlasting work of many growers, organizations and individuals and country as a whole in promoting the products of jackfruit among consumers. At present there are many who have devoted their time very constructively to create more delicacies from the fruit. Vinaya from GSB Ventures, Mannuthy, Trichur, Kerala also realized the potential of the fruit and has created a range of 158 value added products from Jackfruit. She has realised that there is money in jackfruit after having sold jackfruit worth items worth Lakhs. Things are changing says Vinaya and I am a change maker .Anything is possible with hardwork, the possibilities of creating should never die within. This constant dreaming has led me to a position where I am today.
GSB ventures also concentrates on value added juices from items like Lemon, Pepper, Nannari, Hibiscus, Lotus, Ginger ,Turmeric ,Kanthari chilli, Gooseberry, Banana stem, Passion fruit etc. In summer months it concentrates more on Jackfruit as fresh jackfruit is available in plenty. She also has a regular supply of jackfruit flour and jackfruit seeds in store for making value added products during offseason. Processed fruit gets a better price, so she has gone ahead and opened a small processing unit which will benefit the companies growth and also an opportunity for employment for women who lives near her home, Vinaya said. Jackfruit value added products range from Jackfruit cuisines to snack items to Jack honey to jack icecream to jack flour cakes to kesari to Sweet balls to Kheers to jam, jelly, bar, candy, chocolate, pudding to juice to pickle.the list is quite exhaustive and they can all be easily made .
Vinaya also has dabbled in art for a while, she is very creative and is a crafts teacher. She does sand art, fabric painting, saree embroidery, glass painting and saree painting. Knowing more than 150 odd crafts and the author of 8 books including one on Jackfruit she is an asset to the Kerala State. A craft teacher for the Trichur Central Jail inmates, also doubles up as an employee of the canara bank in the food security department.
The Corona days were really bad as she had a small hotel unit and that had to be closed. Since then she had been involved in creating several immunity drinks for the covid patients and others. This was an idea which just came to her during the covid lockdown days. She had to utilize whatever essentials was available in her home like juicers, mixies and grinders. At present she does the processing in another organization since the demand has gone high in these days. They have taken care to packed them food grade bottles and its available in almost 20 ecocounters throughout the District and Amazon too. She also does interstate couriers if requested. There are different kinds of juices made with normal white sugar, organic sugar and also for the dibateic patients.
Her daughter Lakshmi who is a Business Management person helps her in all formalities with respect to marketing . Word of mouth appreciation id doing well interms of her juice and squash items .There aren’t any colour nor preservatives added to her squashes says Vinaya.
As we work out the economics she says a minimum of Rs 60,000 per week is what she gets in return.40 percent of this amount could be attributed to profits alone. She is also a member of various jackfruit promotion councils and organizations .Planning to scaleup is essential says Vinaya.She is also planning to take up a loan and take up a food ownerlicense. There are many stumbling blocks in the process but she is prepared to take the long walk says Vinaya before concluding the talk.
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