CHENNAI: A ne needs to sit back and relax on a hot summer day. Many people believe that tender coconut water is the best drink to beat the heat, but wouldn't it be lovely if it were to be served chilled every time? Jagadeesh Bakthavatchalam has the answer. Belonging to the health industry, this IIM graduate has introduced 10de Coke Nut, a tender coconut cart that serves cold tender coconut water.
Interestingly, it took Jagadeesh only two months of research to come up with this product.
“I conceived this idea after the jallikattu protests earlier this year. When everyone went against aerated bottled drinks, I thought I should be a pioneer in serving something different to society. And what’s better than something that’s both natural and healthy,” he smiles.
Jagadeesh realised that the main factors that led many people to the drink were affordability, accessibility and availability. The price of tender coconuts keeps increasing every year and the taste and quantity of water differs based on the size and price of the coconut. “A tender coconut vendor should be skilled and there is a scarcity of such skilled people now. We also learned that people wanted tender coconut to be available in shops like they are available on the roadside-in the case of which it is quite difficult to take it home all by yourself,” he says.
The mechanism of the 10de Coke Nut cart is simple. It can store up to 100 tender coconuts. Instead of using an aruval (billhook), the person who operates it has to insert a screw driver-like instrument into the soft part of the coconut. Then, the coconut is inverted on to a filter for separating the water that goes through an iced chamber and comes out cold. The drink is then bottled and sealed.
“Once sealed you have to drink it within an hour. Now we have also introduced natural flavours like mint and nannari, especially for youngsters,” adds Jagadeesh.
While the cart is from Thailand, parts of the machine which were designed by Jagadeesh, are manufactured in a factory in Chennai. “This mechanism was introduced in India in 2006 but it failed then. We met that person to learn what led to the failure and worked out a different model,” he says.
These carts are available in five locations and the demand is increasing. “Though we launched in March, we are still learning and modifying. For example, not everyone likes chilled tender coconut water. So for them we want to provide the unflavoured ones.
We introduced the flavoured ones only recently.”
They get tender coconuts directly from farms and they buy those that do not have the fruit inside it. “The machine (that we have) cannot pierce through if the coconut or malai inside is fully formed. We choose those without the malai as that is good for health compared to the other one. Though the one with coconut tastes better, we want to sell what is healthy. We also keep the coconut only for two or three days,” he explains.
By 2020, Jagadeesh wants to bring 2,000 carts and provide chilled tender coconut water throughout the year, instead of just summers.