Kudumbashree - Success Story of Thrikkaipetta Bamboo Shoot Processing Unit

Livelihood from Bamboo Rice:  Success Story of Thrikkaipetta Bamboo Shoot Processing Unit

Seven Kudumbashree members form a group in Thrikkaipetta, Meppadi Panchayath of Wayanad district of Kerala and they named it as ‘Thrikkaipetta Bamboo Shoot Processing Unit’. The unit was established in the year 2005. Six varieties of pickles and 2 types of snacks are made out of Bamboo rice. In the beginning they availed an amount of Rs.4 lakhs loan from bank and Rs. 1.4 lakhs subsidy from Kudumbashree Mission. They got training from Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) and support from Uravu society for marketing. That helped their beginning in business. They participated in different trade fairs like Bamboo fest, Kudumbashree Melas, etc and that had boosted their confidence and also enriched their business.
 For making pickles, raw materials of good quality are available locally in cheap price for micro enterprise.  After some years, 2 members left, as they got some another job. A remarkable change of Thrikkaipetta Pickles was that they were getting regular orders from Aroma fresh shop from Thiruvananthapuram. That time was the golden period of Thrikkaipetta Pickles. In those years their annual turnover of their unit was above Rs.8 lakhs.  The initial income of each member was Rs.40 a day. Now that had changed into Rs.250 per day. The members were really happy to contribute to the economical part of their family. But the unprecedented floods happened during August 2018 also affected their micro Enterprises business. Even though they are fighting back the fate and are coming back to life with more confidence and enthusiasm.
Sheeba Rajan (President), Merry Eldho (Secretary), Jessy Eldho, Devi Narayanan and Sharada Balan are the members of this unit. They believe that group working, support from Uravu society and support from Kudumbashree Mission are the main reasons for their success. Retaining sustainability in business, marketing, lack of updating new technologies and increasing competition etc were the challenges they had faced in their business. They consider the work order they got from Aroma Fresh, Trivandrum and their participation in trade fairs as their turning point in business. To make their business sustainable, to start working in own building and uplifting the living condition through earning in business are their future plans. The members were really happy when they got to contribute to economical part of their family. They had also gone on a tour after getting profit in business. For them even the moment of togetherness is one of the happiest moments in their lives. 

Planning, choosing and starting the right enterprise at the right time really matters. The success story of the ‘Thrikkaipetta Bamboo Shoot Processing Unit’ can be considered a better epitome of practical wisdom. By successfully running ‘Thrikkaipetta Bamboo Shoot Processing Unit’, the micro entrepreneurs of Kudumbashree Mission had proved that they can succeed in any industry.  What matters most is the aptitude, determination and self-confidence to make the dreams real! All it need is self-confidence and the positive mind set to perceive issues positively and make the best out of everything.