Thenga - A Frontline Product Company From a Backline Deposit

'Thenga', the word used for 'coconut' in the Arabi Malayalam dialect is the name of a company started by Maria Kuriakose. The company produces compostable food bowls and many such utensils from coconut shells which would mostly be discarded as waste!

This kind of artistry has been on for many centuries, coconut shells have been used as ladles for serving food in the past. The current industrialisation has led to a drop in the rates of artisans practising this artistry.

Let's find out the whole journey of this replenishing homegrown business into a full-fledged company.

The Founder's Story:

Credits: The Hindu

Maria Kuriakose, an MBA graduate went to a corporate for her first job but couldn't continue a year later because of her wanting to work for some organisation that empowered the underprivileged.

This led her to land in a social enterprise which worked with women in slums to make sanitary pads. A greater purpose to life, right? - would you like to leave your job for a greater purpose or calling? Mention your thoughts in the comments below.

Back to the story, a visit to an oil mill in Thrissur gave her the inspiration required for starting her business. She says in an interview “Coconuts are a versatile crop, where every part can be utilised. But I noticed that the coconut shells were being discarded. Researching further, I understood that a few businesses use them to make activated charcoal, else they’re burned as fuel. Earlier, several artisans around Kerala used the shells to make ladles for serving food. Today, these products don’t find much value and the artisans practising the craft have also reduced.”

The Company's Journey:

Maria started her research and talked to experts and artisans making it's byproducts. She spent a few months understanding the sorting and making of final products. Also, she didn't want to put in large investment on purchasing machinery. For this, she took support from her 65 year old father who is a retired Mechanical engineer, who referred to YouTube for sanding machine.

More of Family Business:

Her father, Kuriakose Varoo, bought spare parts from hardware shop and created sanding wheel for cleaning up inner and outer surface of the shells. Along with that, he recycled a handheld drill to set the fittings for buffer and disc sander. Her mother, Jolly Kurikose helped her by providing her with coconut shells from their backyard. During this, Maria used to spend time looking for potential and willing businesses.

After the start, Maria felt hassle to manufacture the products at home. So, she met few artisans in Thrissur, Kottayam and Wayanad who had to do odd jobs at construction sites but continued to practise their craft. After explaining the product line to those artisans, some of them were onboard at the spot.

The finalised products were being printed on by laser printers form a third party and polished by coconut oil rather than regular chemical based varnish. Apart from selling the products to businesses, the products are also being sold over e-commerce platforms and social media directly to the customers.

Products and Future:

They have ladles and Spoons along with smoothie cups and bowls in their product line. Not much but a fact is that they have sold over 8000 pieces around the world. The orders continue to flow on from local businesses and the company also plans to launch it's products in Germany through Amazon online store.

It was big enough that Maria had to leave her social job in order to scale it properly according to the demand by using her marketing and business skills.

You can check out the products on their website: https://thenga.myinstamojo.com/⁣

Our brand name means 'coconut' in Malayalam, and we are nuts about sustainability!

- Maria Kuriakose (Founder, Thenga)