Ready-to-cook vegetable units in Kerala come up trumps during lockdown

Cut greens units of the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) at Kalliyoor in Thiruvananthapuram has a hit story to relate even during lockdown. The unit has not solely sailed by two lockdowns but additionally recorded spectacular income.

An increase in the demand for ready-to-cook greens during the lockdown got here as a shot in the arm for the unit, which opened in 2013-14 by VFPCK, a Government of Kerala enterprise with farmers as main stakeholders.

From the reduce greens unit of VFPCK at Kalliyoor in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
 
| Photo Credit: Special association

“Prior to the outbreak of the pandemic, we used to supply to a few government offices and residents’ associations. The closure of these offices affected our business, but we were able to gather customers through online platforms and shopping apps,” says Sheeja Mathew, district supervisor, VFPCK. In addition to apps resembling AM Needs and Hello Fresh in addition to on-line platform Koohoi, the unit provides merchandise to 10 residents’ associations in the town.

According to official figures, the utmost turnover earlier than the pandemic was round ₹25 lakh, inclusive of the sale of greens and fruits. “But in 2020-21 the turnover was ₹63 lakh. It has already crossed ₹21 lakh in the last three months. We are hopeful of getting good business this year as well,” an official says.

The product vary contains varied reduce greens used to cook dinner thoran, mezhukkuvaratti, sambar, avial, kuruma, theeyal and erissery and likewise peeled greens resembling shallots, ginger and garlic. “Since the unit is part of VFPCK’s farmer market at Kalliyoor, fresh produce is available in the morning. If there is a shortage of any item, we procure it from other farmer markets in and around Kalliyoor,” says Divya L, assistant supervisor, VFPCK.

Ready-to-cook greens packed at VFPCK’s unit at Kalliyoor in Thiruvananthapuram
 
| Photo Credit: Special association

Only girls are employed on the unit. While there are 10 common workers members, extra arms are taken if wanted. They earn ₹ 225 (₹ 200 in the primary 12 months) per day and work in two or three shifts of seven to 9 hours all through the week. The first shift begins at 7 am.

“I got the job during the lockdown last year and my earning has been a blessing. Working in a women-only group makes me feel safe,” says Neethu GB, 28, who works in the 8.30 am to six.30 pm During every shift, workers works on cleansing the vegetable, then strikes to chopping, packing and labelling.

Ajitha B, 32, an worker for the final six years, says, “Chopping cheera (amaranthus), vazhakkoombu (banana flower) and koorkka (Chinese potato) take time. We use machines for pavakka (bittergourd), carrot mezhukkuvaratti and papaya thoran. The rest are done by hand.”

Women at work on the reduce greens unit of VFPCK at Kalliyoor in Thiruvananthapuram
 
| Photo Credit: Special association

Since the unit doesn’t have a fridge, the greens are chopped only a few hours earlier than they’re delivered to respective assortment centres. “Otherwise they will get spoilt. For example, AM Needs supply the products before 8 am. So we deliver the items the previous day by 7 pm for which we start the cutting process only after 5 pm,” Divya says.

Kits for sambar and avial (each 400 gm) and amaranthus thoran (300 gm) packet have extra takers. Seasonal produce resembling jackfruit and breadfruit are additionally in demand. “We hope to include items such as chembila (Colocasia leaves) and chena thada (Elephant foot yam stem) in future,” she says.

Meanwhile, VFPCK’s reduce vegetable units in Ernakulam and Kozhikode are shut in the interim due to the pandemic. The latter is anticipated to reopen by the tip of this month or early subsequent month.

Home-grown enterprises

Cut vegetable units are additionally run by some members of Kudumbashree, the group organisation of Neighbourhood Group (NHG) girls in Kerala. However, not like VFPCK’s, these are managed by a number of members, principally from their households.

Divya Mahesh (left) and her mom, Jayalakshmy Sankarankutty from Irinjalakkuda in Thrissur packing reduce greens
 
| Photo Credit: Special association

Ammath Vegetables at Irinjalakkuda in Thrissur district is run by Divya Mahesh, her mom, Jayalakshmi Sankarankutty, and her mother-in-law, Santha Ravindran, all Kudumbashree members. “We started this two years ago by selling peeled shallots, garlic and koorkka. Soon people began asking for other cut vegetables and that’s how we expanded it,” says Divya.

Her product vary contains greens and greens resembling drumstick leaves, Colocasia leaves and stems, banana stems, flowers, amaranthus and jackfruit seeds, all grown at households in her neighbourhood.

Santha Ravindran, a Kudumbashree member from Thrissur, packing drumstick leaves
 
| Photo Credit: Special association

Divya conducts enterprise through a WhatsApp group. “When I started there were hardly 50 customers. During the first lockdown, the number shot up and now I have 400 families as my customers. I post the list in the evening and orders are closed by 10 pm. While peeled shallots and garlic are packed that night itself, cutting and chopping start the next morning by 5 am. By 10 am, it is taken to my husband’s house at Poonkunnam, some 25 km from my place. He, along with my mother-in-law, takes care of dispatching. Since we use plastic containers, we take them back for recycling,” says Divya. She provides that though the second wave of the pandemic hit them onerous, issues at the moment are getting again to regular.

In Thiruvananthapuram, Sreedevi L, a Kudumbashree member, has been supplying reduce greens for 5 years now. But the lockdown gave a significant push to her enterprise, due to on-line gross sales. “I supply items to kada.in (online shopping platform), in addition to three shops and 12 apartments in the city, where I deliver products on my two-wheeler. There was at least 20% increase in my business during the lockdown, including online sale,” Sreedevi says.

When she misplaced her short-term job with a government-run enterprise, Sreedevi says she had no alternative however to start out one thing on her personal. “Kudumbashree women run many small scale ventures and I thought of giving a try with cut vegetables. Now I have a steady income, even though it is a time-consuming job,” says Sreedevi, who additionally works as an accountant with a non-public agency.