#coirfibre

[ocspictures-blog]

Handcrafted wildlife art portrait using coir fibre displayed inside the International Coir Museum, Kalavoor, Alappuzha. @lenscaptureofficial @india_pixelz . . an OddCurveShoot Pictures gallery Photo by: @nishanthzerocool172 Camera: Canon 70D @canonindia_official . . #coir #coirmuseum #coirmuseumalleppey #naturalfibre #goldenfibre #coirfibre #wallartdecor #portraitart #wildlifeart #lionart #tigerart #alappuzha #kalavoor #keralatourism #keralastyle #keralavibes #keraladiaries #tourismindia #_tcoi #_ipc #natgeoindia #indiaphotoproject #lenscaptureofficial #india_pixelz #indian_passionpassport #indianphotographyclub #capturedoncanon #oddcurveshoot #ocspictures (at International Coir Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-3mkAyF1Vf/?igshid=vsc7lt3pmp8v

[atlantissagri-blog]

Atlantiss interviews Kenya Cocopeat Entrepreneur

Enterprising Kenyan Entrepreneur, James Kapombe upcycles coconut waste into valuable grow medium for farmers. 9 questions, 9 answers. He will share his journey, some tips and his future plans.

1. Share with us a brief background about yourself and your town in Kenya.

I believe being born and raised in rural Kilifi, Kenya gave me the passion for agriculture. I started with a smart farm concept to demonstrate sustainable climate smart agri-techniques but I pivoted my business model towards Cocopeat Manufacturing after identifying the pressing needs in the market.

2. What is your passion or drive to run this cocopeat manufacturing business? Was it opportunity driven or you wanted to contribute back to your towns/economy of Kenya?

I saw a gap in the market that was not being met/addressed. 99% of cocopeat was/is imported. I see this as a high potential business opportunity (including the creation of value added local jobs) for Kenya and the region.

3. Describe your jumpstart journey to embark on this business, especially on identifying, operating and maintaining the machines for your cocopeat manufacturing. Especially industrial machines may be high in capital investment and maintenance costs are unknown.

We started working on this project in August 2016, seeing how it is today, is a huge step forward. Shipping in the machinery to Kenya was very expensive and we opted to engage local engineers to develop the plant for us. It was a painful experience, because they took 5 months to deliver. In this industry, we have to be mindful that maintenance costs can sky-rocket if you use inefficient machines.

4. Who are your primary and secondary customers of cocopeat?

CocoGrow's cocopeat is mainly used by flower and vegetable growers for plant propagation. Other uses include industrial oil absorbent, mushroom substrate, pet houses, etc.

5. So, what's the benefits of cocopeat to your targeted customers? Give us your favourite pitch.

Today, one kg of tomato seeds costs more than one kg of gold. We value seeds. A seedling is the income of tomorrow. At CocoGrow, we maximise germination rate, reduce young plant mortality and ensure zero root shock during transplanting!

6. Share with us 1 or 2 tips on engaging your customers on using cocopeat. How tough was it in the beginning?

Exhibiting at the International Flower and Trade Expo (IFTEX 2018) in June before our business launch in July 2018 gave us a wider access to the market needs.

7. What major challenges and hurdles you face/faced? And how did you overcome them?

The biggest challenge was sorting out a faulty machine. We had to work around low production cycles and delays delivery time. And these are costs to CocoGrow. We need to pick up the skills and knowledge to run the machines. As we scale up the business, we recognized that the ability to supply in volumes also comes with huge working capital and physical space. Proximity to [consistent] raw materials becomes more important.

8. What are your next big plans/steps? What support and business development would you be looking for?

We have three areas to focus on: (1) Product Development, (2) Distribution Channels and (3) R&D and Machinery.

On the product front, we are currently working on various downstream products as we need to make our business sustainable and be competitive in the global market. As we scale our business, we hope to ship out to as many small-scale farmers across Africa, at cost-competitive freight rates. We also recognize the importance of Technology as we hope to work with more horticulture experts to assist us in R&D and to inject capital to upgrade our machinery.

9. Please share with us your parting, encouragement statement, to other coconut families in rural villages who may wish to embark on this journey.

Coconut is the tree of life. Everything is valuable on that tree, the tree with zero wastage. You can’t afford to be poor.

[sriellammalcoirs-blog]

Leading manufacturers & exporters of high quality range of Coir fibre Bales.

[ocspictures-blog]

Handcrafted wall art painting of a beautiful woman using coir fibre displayed inside the International Coir Museum, Kalavoor, Alappuzha. @lenscaptureofficial @india_pixelz . . an OddCurveShoot Pictures gallery Photo by: @nishanthzerocool172 Camera: Canon 70D @canonindia_official . . #coir #coirmuseum #coirmuseumalleppey #naturalfibre #goldenfibre #coirfibre #wallartdecor #portraitart #beautifulwomanart #girlportrait #curvacious #alappuzha #kalavoor #keralatourism #keralastyle #keralavibes #keraladiaries #tourismindia #indiaphotoproject #travelcommunity #travelvibes #lenscaptureofficial #india_pixelz #indian_passionpassport #indianphotographyclub #wanderful_places #capturedoncanon #oddcurveshoot #ocspictures (at International Coir Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-1BEazF38E/?igshid=1cr4re6gr7r9z

[ocspictures-blog]

A wax statue beautifully illustrating a hard-working keralite woman separating the coir fibre from a coconut husk inside the International Coir Museum, Kalavoor, Alappuzha. As per internet terminologies, this process is known as dehusking. @natgeotravellerindia @lenscaptureofficial @india_pixelz . . an OddCurveShoot Pictures gallery Photo by: @nishanthzerocool172 Camera: Canon 70D @canonindia_official . . #coir #coirmuseum #coirmuseumalleppey #naturalfibre #goldenfibre #coirfibre #coconuthusk #dehusking #waxstatue #alappuzha #kalavoor #keralatourism #keralastyle #keralavibes #keraladiaries #tourismindia #_tcoi #_ipc #creativemobs #lenscaptureofficial #india_pixelz #indian_passionpassport #indianphotographyclub #NGTIndia #yourshotphotographer #natgeoyourshot #capturedoncanon #oddcurveshoot #ocspictures (at International Coir Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-08zFhF4bd/?igshid=1b9kuvdaqfl44

[ocspictures-blog]

Displayed inside the International Coir Museum is a beautiful handcrafted pot made using coir, a natural golden fibre from the husk of a coconut, in Kalavoor, Alappuzha. . . an OddCurveShoot Pictures gallery Photo by: @nishanthzerocool172 Camera: Canon 70D @canonindia_official . . #coir #coirmuseum #coirmuseumalleppey #naturalfibre #goldenfibre #coirfibre #coconuthusk #coirproducts #coirindustry #handcraftedpottery #potteryart #alappuzha #kalavoor #keralatourism #keralastyle #keralavibes #keraladiaries #tourismindia #wanderful_places #indian_passionpassport #indianphotographyclub #indiaphotoproject #indiapicturehub #indiashutterbugs #discoverindia #storiesofindia #capturedoncanon #oddcurveshoot #ocspictures (at International Coir Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ye5gpFQ0p/?igshid=1ddauzpu4ipjt

[ocspictures-blog]

Beautifully handcrafted wall art of 1: a female classical dancer and, 2: a portrait of M.K. Gandhi using coir, a natural golden fibre from the husk of a coconut. These portraits are displayed inside the International Coir Museum in Kalavoor, Alappuzha. @india_pixelz . . an OddCurveShoot Pictures gallery Photo by: @nishanthzerocool172 Camera: Canon 70D @canonindia_official . . #coir #coirmuseum #coirmuseumalleppey #naturalfibre #goldenfibre #coirfibre #coconuthusk #coirproducts #coirindustry #wallartdecor #portraitart #classicaldancer #classicaldancerart #gandhi #gandhiart #alappuzha #kalavoor #keralastyle #keralavibes #keraladiaries #tourismindia #india_pixelz #indian_passionpassport #indianphotographyclub #discoverindia #storiesofindia #capturedoncanon #oddcurveshoot #ocspictures (at International Coir Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-wRzi-lol2/?igshid=1x6guznoz2cgi

[ocspictures-blog]

A walk inside the International Coir Museum in Kalavoor, Alappuzha. . . an OddCurveShoot Pictures gallery Photo by: @nishanthzerocool172 Camera: Canon 70D @canonindia_official . . #coir #coirmuseum #coirmuseumalleppey #naturalfibre #goldenfibre #coirfibre #coconuthusk #coirproducts #coirindustry #alleppeydiaries #alappuzha #kalavoor #keralaculture #keralatradition #keralastyle #keralavibes #keraladiaries🌴 #indiashutterbugs #discoverindia #discover_india #yourshotindia #indiaphotoproject #tourismindia #travelfilmmaker #canonlife #canonstories #capturedoncanon #oddcurveshoot #ocspictures (at International Coir Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-uOI1_FJjI/?igshid=cszrabngzshn

[atlantissagri-blog]

Together, we can create tremendous positive impact with and for the local coconut communities in Southeast Asia. 

Apart from the coconut fruits and water, there are many value-added non-food by-products from the coconut husk material including the coconut shell.

*Livelihood - increase capability, additional stream of income via value-added coconut by-products

*Environment Impact - reduce ignorant dumping and burning of coconut waste materials

AtlantissAgri.com Official Shop already carries a wide range of upcycled coconut products from coir fibre and cocopeat: https://atlantissagri.com/collections/all

Join Team AtlantissAgri.com on this important journey. There’s much more to learn and to pick up along the journey. We very much look forward to continue contributing meaningful knowledge transfer, leveraging on our distribution + logistics expertise, raising the awareness of products and trends to the local coconut communities. 

AtlantissAgri.com welcomes strategic partnerships and collaborations with Associations, Cooperatives, Craftsfolks,  Institutions of Higher Learning and Research/Development, Multi-nationals, Private Families, Small/Micro Medium Enterprises as well as Startups. 

We welcome a conversation. Talk to us: https://atlantissagri.com/pages/contact-us.

[atlantissagri-blog]

Adventure in Sungai Guntung & Tembilahan (Part 1)

Travelogue by Matt

On 10 January 2018, at the crack of dawn, we left Singapore to connect with the coconut community in Riau, Indonesia.

A smooth, air-conditioned and timely ferry floated us across the Singapore Strait, where we transited to a domestic cruise operator for the longer haul to Sungai Guntung on day 1 and Tembilahan on day 2, two relatively small towns but both contribute to a significantly sizeable coconut plantation in Indonesia.

At the local ferry transfer, some locals could not resist the temptation of catching a glimpse of the Atlantiss Team, giving us a curious stare and half-hearted smile as we walked past. Perhaps these people too sensed the social and economical significance of a breakthrough in the social communication science of reaching out to rural communities, or perhaps it was due to the fact we were complete aliens who appeared awkwardly at ease. We never stopped to find out and boarded the small speedboat instead. What the vessel lacked in size and general maintenance, was more than made up for with live local musician and a variety of local delicacies on sale and offered directly at your seat. 

At 830am, we could not help but to spare a thought for those who make this their daily commute.

Anyway only three hours later we arrived at a jetty, traded our musical ferry for a harrowing motorboat ride after which we climbed on land at Sungai Guntung.

At Sungai Guntung, just 100 kilometres away from the glitter and glam of Singapore's shores, we were met by landfills, decaying structures, rotten wooden jetties and goats. We later learnt that there are 30,000 people living here in Guntung, of which about 2,000 are of Chinese decent, the rest are Malays, and there are three Indian families who run the only Roti Canai stalls in town.

We finally got on shore and followed on to our Hotel, to meet up and engage with the local coconut community.