Tierra Food India Pvt Ltd has entered into the traditional snack market in Kerala by launching cassava and banana chips.

The products Kappo (cassava) and Banano (banana chips) are available in flavours both in Indian and international. While Kappo comes in salt n pepper, cream n onion, masala mania and tangy tomato flavours, Banano will be available in chilly garlic, salt n pepper and masala punch flavours.

The products are launched in small and trendy packs priced at Rs 5 and Rs 10.

Mr Alex Thomas, managing director of the company, said that world's best flavour companies have worked with Tierra to develop natural spice mixes to flavour the products.

The Rs 15 crore manufacturing plant, set up at the new Kinfra Park at Adoor, has an installed capacity of six tonnes a day (in 2 shifts). The plant requires about 20 tonnes of raw materials daily and the company will procure at least 5,000 tonnes of banana and cassava from farmers, he said.

Tierra proposes to associate itself with government initiatives such the State Horticulture Mission (SHM) and Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council, Keralam (VFPCK) for cultivating and procuring the right cultivars for chips manufacturing. The raw materials required by the factory will be sourced from these identified farmers.

The farmers will also be trained to harvest the crop at the right time. These handpicked produce will be hygienically peeled and then processed in the fully automated plant within 24 hours from harvesting to ensure freshness, he said.

The company will also adopt the contract farming route with the group of farmers identified with the support of SHM, VFPCK and CTCRI (Central Tuber Crops Research Institute).

He said that the usage of banana and cassava chips from the snack food plate of Keralites is getting reduced to festivals and functions. Most people prefer potato chips or extruded snacks in small pack sizes and trendy packaging to banana/tapioca chips in unbranded transparent packs.

> sajeevkumar@thehindu.co.in

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