Who has not heard about jamuns? Yes, the amazing purple-colored fruits that we see in the months of July and August (probably after the onset of monsoon). These are toothsome and irresistible. But as said by J.K. Ensley “Every curse has a blessing and every blessing has a curse” stands true here as well. Well, jamuns are not available year long and the wait is too long.
But, hey here is our silver lining, now jamuns are available all year long. Yes, they are. No, I haven’t gone crazy. Now you can enjoy the rich taste of jamuns all year with the help of Jovaki’s unique Jamun-based products. These products are 100% real and made up of pure Jamun pulp with no added sugar, preservatives, or artificial colors. Well, what are these products?
These products are Jamuns strips and Jamun dried flakes. They also have other Jamun-based products such as Jamun green tea and Jamun seed powder. Now, what is the significance? Why are we focussing so much on these products? Let us discuss this in detail.
What is Jovaki?
Jovaki Agrofoods India Pvt Ltd is an agri-startup of Rajesh Kumar Oza. With his careful observation and excellent interpersonal skills, he has developed a value-added supply chain where he has integrated social impact and business role models. Jovaki has been able to help thousands of tribal women and their families in seeking sustainable employment that lasts all year long.
What Does Jovaki Do?
Jovaki has been actively involved in providing employment to thousands of tribal women and supporting their families. Right from plucking the fruits to processing the obtained pulp, the tribal women perform all the activities. Earlier they had to walk miles just to sell the fruits (not to forget some particular months of the year) at very low prices. TodayJovaki buys their produce at fair and just prices. Not only this but the tribal women are also provided with crates and secateurs to ensure the efficient cutting of wild fruits and increase their shelf life. Shelf life is an important criterion here as wild fruits such as Jamun and custard apple have very short shelf lives and thereby get wasted a lot. However, due to the right cutting method, one can increase the shelf life. Once the fruits are collected, these fruits are processed at the processing center under hygienic conditions by the tribal women. This way, these tribal women are dually employed and benefitted by Jovaki.
Products
Once the fruits are collected at the village-level processing unit, these fruits are processed and the extracted pulp is frozen. The frozen pulp is then packed and sold at the B2B level (ice-cream, catering, and dessert-making industries). The Jamun pulp is again processed to make innovative and healthy products such as Jamun dried strips, Jamun dried flakes, Jamun green tea, and Jamun seed powder.