Sibi Manivannan runs Gramiya, a spin on his grandfather’s previous village store, which sells wooden cold-pressed oils the world over to reintroduce them in Indian kitchens.
In his childhood, Tamil Nadu’s Sibi Manivannan would relish the dosas his mom cooked, and even at this time, at 30, remembers the precise aroma and style of the dish.
The key to this, he says, have been the oils used of their making.
“When my mom would warmth groundnut or sesame oil, the entire home would refill with the aroma,” he says in dialog with The Higher India.
“You warmth one dosa made with sesame oil, and the opposite cooked with refined oil, and you’ll really feel the distinction between the 2. It additionally tastes higher and has extra essence to it,” the Trichy resident says.
Sibi considers himself lucky, because it was his grandfather who ready these wooden cold-pressed oils utilizing conventional stone mills. “My grandfather used to do that work again within the Nineteen Sixties in a really small setup in our village. Sadly, he needed to shut the enterprise within the ‘90s, when refined oils got here into the image. I wished to revive the work,” he provides.
In order an ode to his beloved thatha and to supply a more healthy various to subtle oils, he began Gramiya in 2017 with faculty buddies Mohammad Yaseen and Naveen Rajamaran. The trio sells no less than 50,000 litres of minimally processed cold-pressed oils each month.
Bringing wood-pressed oil again
After finishing his commencement in robotics and automation in 2015, Sibi bought into the household enterprise of car dealerships and operating eating places. It was when he wished to buy oils in bulk for his restaurant enterprise that he realised the heavy utilization of chemical solvents and adulterations in them.
“We noticed how oils have been adulterated with cheaper palm seed oil and cotton oil. That’s once I remembered how my thatha used to make good-quality oils in a stone mill. These have been minimally processed, preservative-free, and flavourful as effectively. I missed the recollections and wished to revive the enterprise for good,” he says.
Explaining how the oils are manufactured at Gramiya, Yaseen tells The Higher India, “First, we get low moisture seeds from Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Kerala. Normally, corporations get cheaper seeds and don’t take away moisture. We sun-dry the seeds for a day.”
“Thereafter, oil is extracted from these seeds on a stone mill with a wood pestle. Normally, in the course of the processing, hydrogenation technique is used to maximise the quantity of oil extracted from the seed. On this technique, oils are processed in conventional metal grinders utilizing steam boilers the place heating temperatures are as excessive as 180 levels Celsius. This oil breaks into excessive trans fats content material, which will increase cardiovascular dangers,” he explains.
A 2022 research by the Worldwide Journal of Meals and Dietary Sciences reveals that due to this process, the seeds are stripped of all naturally occurring vitamins and antioxidants, leading to a last product that’s devoid of flavour and affords no optimistic results on our well being.
“We simply crush seeds laborious sufficient to carry as a lot oil and depart the remainder. We be sure that we don’t exceed 50 levels Celsius. For us, it does give you a value as our extraction percentages are low. However that’s how our oils get higher in aroma and well being,” says Yaseen.
After the extraction course of, oil is handed by way of a cotton filter system to take away seed sediments from the oil. Lastly, the cold-pressed oils are packaged in opaque gable-top paperboard cartons. “We don’t expose oil to daylight, as it could get rancid and smelly,” he provides.
A win-win for all
The trio produces about 50,000 litres of cold-pressed oils in three classes – groundnut, sesame, and coconut oil priced at Rs 390, Rs 590, and Rs 420, respectively.
“Our merchandise are premium. However they’ve a thicker consistency and due to this, they get absorbed much less in meals, particularly when you find yourself deep frying. This ensures that individuals devour much less oil. Our 4-litre combo often lasts longer than a 5-litre refined oil packet,” says Yaseen.
To this point, they’ve bought their oils to no less than 30,000 clients and helped them exchange refined oils of their kitchens. Mumbai’s Prachi Ghugare has been utilizing their cold-pressed groundnut oil for a few year-and-a-half. She tells The Higher India, “The greens style higher now. I can really feel that the meals is cooked in genuine oil. If I neglect to order and prepare dinner meals in every other common oil, then my son simply figures it out.”
“Though no one in my household has any historical past of excessive levels of cholesterol, I didn’t wish to feed my husband and son meals cooked in refined oils,” provides the 39-year-old software program engineer.
With Gramiya, the trio clocks a month-to-month income of Rs 1 crore. Yaseen says 50 % of the income comes from exports to nations just like the USA and Canada.
For Sibi, the enterprise is a win-win scenario. “On the one hand, we now have very completely satisfied clients. Seventy-five % of our clients commonly repeat their orders. Then again, I’m able to pursue my ardour and do what I like. We have been capable of replicate your entire processing items the way in which my grandfather used to do. Sadly, he’s not there with us, however he would have been completely satisfied to see that we’re capable of take these oils to so many kitchens like as soon as he did,” he says.
Supply:
A overview on wooden pressed edible oils: Revealed by ACS School, Maharashtra within the Worldwide Journal of Meals and Dietary Sciences in December 2022.
Edited by Divya Sethu; All photographs: Gramiya.
