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Kottakarai Organic Food Processing Unit - KOFPU
Background
Sharanam, a Spanish Aurovilian with 10 years
of experience in the field of agro-chemistry and food technology in Spain, took
the initiative to set up an organic food-processing unit in Auroville under the
umbrella of Auroville Village Action. In 1995, Himalaya Trust, Italy, gave a
grant to construct a building in the Auroville Kottakarai settlement (adjacent
to the village of the same name) for the production and storage of organic
products. However, due to unforeseen delays and increase of construction costs,
the funding turned out to be insufficient to complete the building.
Meanwhile, Sharanam began working from her home in Dana. She
invented a special recipe for making noodles with the addition of soya. Later
on Anandi, an Indian Aurovilian with a background in nutrition and traditional
food production, joined her and developed new recipes using local millets like
ragi and kambu.
Organic food processing unit
Thanks to an additional grant from the Foundation for World
Education, USA, and Stichting De Zaaier, The Netherlands, the building became
operational in 1997. The Kottakarai Organic Food Processing Unit (KOFPU) was
finally born!
Since then Anandi has been solely managing KOFPU, developing
many more organic products, supporting Auroville and other organic farmers,
finding markets, increasing production and employing more local village women.
Aim
- creating
a market for organic produce through the purchase of organically grown
crops from local farmers;
- researching
healthy food and body care products, made from organic produce for the
present-day market;
- Providing
employment to local people.
Our health products
- Noodles:
spirulina, ragi, kambu, wheat, all having a common base of whole wheat
flour.
- Flours:
sprouted ragi flour, millets mix and ragi dosai flour.
- Oils:
organic sesame oil, coconut oil, skin care oil, hair oil, anti lice oil and
ayurvedic massage oils.
- Sauces
and spreads: pesto sauce, pesto spread, tomato sauce, sesame butter peanut
butter, cashew butter.
- Energy
food: sesame balls, almond balls and vitality bars, which contain organic
jaggery as sweetener. All these food items are concentrated with nutrients
and are handy for travelling and trekking. They are also ideal during
pregnancy, lactation or convalescence. In general, they are an excellent
energy booster for everybody at any time of the day.
- Yogi
tea and masala tea powders based on ayurvedic principles
- Health
drinks: Kombucha and kombucha with lemon grass
- Neem
leaf powder for internal and external use.
Where do you find our Auroville Health Products?
Our products are sold under the name of Auroville Health
Products in:
- 'Pour
Tous', Auroville's main food distribution centre in Aspiration
- KOFPU’s
outlet called Sunlit Path near Ganesh bakery
- The
Food Dome in the Auroville Visitors' Centre
- Grinde
Sridaran shop in Puducherry
- 'Naturally
Auroville' shop and Dhanyam Organic Super Store in Chennai.
- Sri
Ramana Super Market in Thiruvannamalai
- many
more new shops around and out of Auroville.