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Recipe for Success - The journey from chef to banana flower pickle entrepreneur
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Tuesday, 13 September, 2011, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Archana Aroor, Mumbai
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Banana, nature's own energy-rich fruit that comes with a safety envelope, has a tale beyond its nutritional effects or origin.
Of late, much research has been undertaken to know the fruit completely and make its best use, as also to improve banana productivity. In this regard, the National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB), a Trichy-based enterprise, forefronts a number of technologies, to improve banana productivity.
While banana chips, shake, powder, and jam are few of the products that strike an instant cord with regard to banana, Karthikumar, an entrepreneur from Namakkal district, near Salem, Tamil Nadu, has taken his research on banana a notch further and made pickle from its flower and stem, a familiar delicacy.
Prior to this spectacular achievement, the 26-year-old Karthikumar took up a job in one of the five star hotels in Chennai as a chef after completing an advanced diploma course in food technology from Madurai, in 2005. Later, Karthikumar dropped the idea of going to Australia, with the lure of a promising career in banana export, which was advised by his family. The journey of banana pickle then began when he realised that banana flowers, which are rich in minerals and have medicinal properties, are being wasted a lot.
"My brother was supportive to start a business in making banana flower pickle without which it would not have been possible for me to progress for what I am performing today," Karthikumar informed FnB News in a chat over telephone.
He explained that he was successful in initiating the banana flower pickle business seeking his brother's encouragement and that he could not avail any financial support from any of the institutions. Initially it was a difficult phase as banana flower was considered as a waste product and people could not accept the new product for the same reason.
But this was not the end. Karthikumar then found his way to his business when his product was not only tasted by the district collector, but also was approved later, as a tasty product in the town.
"The collector was encouraging, he encouraged the village boys to grow in life and particularly as businessmen," he said. His pickle was regularly supplied to "Uzhalavur Samdhaa," which is a farmers market. This did not fetch him much profits until he approached NRCB later, where he incurred post-harvesting technology that is used to manufacture pickle by paying Rs 5,000.
Seeking NRCB's assistance in technology, he succeeded in supplying the pickle not only to other parts of Tamil Nadu but also to other states such as Kerala and Gujarat. He confirms that the new product from banana faces no competition as generally pickle can be associated with mangoes and other fruits, but not banana.
After struggling for few months and setting his foothold in the business, Karthikumar now has plans to export banana flower pickle to other countries. However, he has his own consulting firm today to impart knowledge regarding banana flower pickle to those who wish to make this as business in the district, while he earns an income of around Rs 20-25 lakh per annum.
"Earlier I used to sell the product in packet for Rs 20 per kg but now it is packed in small glass containers. Not only this, NRCB has awarded me as the best entrepreneur in the district recently," a proud Karthikumar revealed.
For entrepreneurs like him, NRCB imparts training sessions twice in a year on value-added products of banana so that the farmers commercialise their products in a proper way.
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