: How a WhatsApp Group of Jackfruit Lovers Turned Into a Startup Earning Lakhs #IndiaNEWS #Food Back in 2019, on a fine summer morning in Ernakulam, Kerala, T Mohandas was chatting with his friend Anil

How a WhatsApp Group of Jackfruit Lovers Turned Into a Startup Earning Lakhs #IndiaNEWS #Food
Back in 2019, on a fine summer morning in Ernakulam, Kerala, T Mohandas was chatting with his friend Anil Jose. Mohandas talked about how the jackfruits in his surroundings were wasted every day while people around the world were ready to spend hundreds to buy them from a supermarket. To this, Anil replied, “Not even a single fruit of yours will wither from next year. ???

This cryptic message was followed by Anil starting a WhatsApp group called Chakkakkoottam (chakka meaning jackfruit and koottam, meaning community). He added a few of his friends who have jackfruit trees in their home garden. The idea of the group was to bring together jackfruit lovers and farmers, and conduct gatherings to share information as well as the many varieties of the fibre-rich fruit.

“It is calculated that only 10 per cent of the fruit produced in the state is consumed. The rest is wasted. As the fruit is largely available in Kerala, there is not much scope for direct sales too,??? Anil tells The Better India.

They wanted to minimise wastage of ‘the official fruit’ of the state (as declared in 2018), and the plan was a great success.

Within months, people inside and outside the state joined the group and held meet-ups at different locations. The members included businesspersons, government employees, photographers, IT professionals, engineers, farmers and many more.

“The initiative attracted the attention of many who migrated to Kochi from the villages of Kerala, having nostalgic memories about their childhood filled with jackfruit and mango. During the first lockdown, the number of members surged and the group was working efficiently,??? says Anil. “This group is for those who yearn for jackfruit, those who grow them in plenty and wish to share and for those who feel the need to be part of a community. ???

The group gained popularity within months. Farmers within the group sold their produce to the members who missed the taste of their favourite fruit. The community was covered by the media and this brought in newer members too.

On 4 July 2021, which is celebrated as International Jackfruit Day, R Ashok, who is a commercial photographer and an active member of the group and above all an ardent chakka lover, was invited for a talk on radio Qatar.

During the interview, he jokingly spoke of the group turning into a company one day which would sell products made of chakka. But the group members, some of whom were from the food industry, were intrigued.

Thus was born the Chakka startup.

Along with Ashok and Anil, Vipin Kumar, who has over 40 years of experience in the food industry, Sabu Aravind and Manu Chandran, who have been in marketing for over 16 years, and Bobin Joseph, who is an expert in manufacturing and customising machinery for the food industry, joined hands to start Chakkakkoottam International Private Limited.