Herbal extracts firm Vevus Lipidos to engage tribal community in collection of forest produce

Vevus Lipidos, a subsidiary of the Kochi-based Inditrades – that focusses on export of herbal extract concentrates – is in talks with the Kerala Government to set up procurement kiosks in tribal belts to collect forest produce.

The company intends to collect forest produce directly from the tribal communities, thus avoiding middlemen and ensuring that the tribals get a fair price, said D. Arun Kumar, promoter, Vevus Lipidos. The commodities to be procured include fresh and dried amla, Serrata, black turmeric and Boswellia. The company plans to collect around 450 tonnes each year. “We are in the business of exporting herbal extracts, including curcumin, to countries such as Italy, Spain and the US,” he told presspersons here.

The Kochi-based company has started a pilot project in Odisha for curcumin, ginger and coleus cultivation, involving the tribal farming community there. The company provides high-yield seed varieties as well as technology in order to ensure a regular supply of quality raw materials through an assured buy-back scheme. It has started procuring around 600 tonnes of herbs under the project.

The Odisha government has provided 200 hectares of land free of cost and the company intends to increase the area under cultivation to 1,000 hectares in the next five years. It also plans to set up a cardamom oil extraction unit in Guatemala and caffeine at a cost of $3.5 million, he added.

The parent company, Inditrades, which has been supplying green manure from India to Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Central America since 1980, achieved a turnover of Rs 55 crore in the last fiscal at a CAGR of 23 per cent, he said.