Virgin coconut oil wows Nag scion Kaavya

It took two years of research for Kaavya Nag, the daughter of Arundhati Nag and late celebrated actor and director Shankar Nag, to understand the intricacies of virgin coconut oil and its process before starting her new venture, Coconess.

“I was always interested in the natural space and I did masters in Wildlife Biology and Conservation. Since 2011, I have been doing research on virgin coconut oil, and I want to create awareness and educate people about the benefits of virgin coconut oil,” says the 30-year-old managing director of Coconess.

People have this idea that coconut oil is bad for health, says Nag. But according to her, there is a difference between copra oil and virgin coconut oil. “While the copra coconut oil is processed from dry coconut kernels and pressed to extract oil and processed at high heat, virgin coconut oil is cold-processed without heat, solvents, chemicals or enzymes,” she explains.

Nag’s focus is only on the virgin coconut oil. “We make the oil from fresh coconuts and 20 nuts produce one litre of oil,” she says.

Coconess offers six products in three verticals — baby, adult, and health tonic. “It’s just three months since we have launched our products and they are available at both physical stores as well as online. Under the baby vertical, we have baby oil and bottom balm. The baby oil is made from coconut milk, and it is rich in healing, nourishing lauric acid, and bottom balm soothes nappy rash, wounds, and scratches. For adults, we have toning oil and skin elixir, and nipple balm for breast-feeding mothers. We also have a health tonic,” explains Nag, adding the prices ranged between Rs 300 and Rs 1,900.

While Coconess now produces 5,000 litres of oil per month to make various products, it aims to touch 20,000 litres in the next one year to 18 months. “Our coconuts are sourced from Mangalore. All products are processed on our farm on Hosur Road.  Our health tonic, which is now available at organic and gourmet shops, are doing well. It is available in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Gurgaon and Bengaluru. We will slowly expand our products to other cities,” she says.