The grove
Fruit is sourced from eleven named co-operatives across Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, and the southern Konkan belt. Every co-operative is registered with us by panchayat, contact person, and average annual yield. Harvest windows are published: kokum runs 5 May to 21 June, mango kernel runs 10 May to 30 July. Nothing is bought outside those windows.
Hand-grading
Kernels are hand-sorted at the co-operative before they travel to the press. We train each grader against a reference sheet: moisture below 8%, visible mould at 0%, foreign matter below 0.5%. Rejected kernels go back to the panchayat — we do not blend them into lower grades.
The press
Our Chiplun facility runs two cold-press lines dedicated to kokum and mango kernel, plus a dedicated sal line blended in by volume. Temperature stays below 55°C through every step. No hexane. No bleaching for unrefined grades. The refined grades use physical refinement only — activated earth and steam, never solvents. Crude yield on kokum runs 43–47 percent, well above the 28–35 percent industry average for mechanical press alone.
Dry fractionation
Kokum, mango kernel, and sal butters are split into a hard stearin fraction and a soft olein fraction by controlled crystallisation — no solvents, no hydrogenation. Temperature is ramped down from 42°C to 28°C over a six-hour window, the crystal mass is separated under filter press, and each fraction is tested on its own. The stearin carries the structural fats buyers use in CBE blends; the olein carries the light esters cosmetic formulators want. One butter becomes two commercial products, both lot-numbered.
Lot & CoA
Every lot is numbered, tested, and accompanied by a Certificate of Analysis: fatty acid profile, SAP, iodine value, peroxide value, microbial counts. The CoA ships with every pallet and is available via our customer portal within 24 hours of press completion. We maintain a retained sample for each lot for 36 months in sealed amber glass.
