CAMPCO eyes Rs 2,000 crore turnover in current fiscal

CAMPCO President S R Satishchandra told PTI that a one lakh square feet facility is being built at Kavu in Puttur Taluk of Dakshina Kannada district at a cost of about Rs 25 crore.

Bengaluru: The Central Arecanut & Cocoa Marketing and Processing Co-operative Ltd (CAMPCO) has targeted a Rs 2,000 crore turnover in the current financial year during which it’s giving a major push to expansion activities.

CAMPCO President S R Satishchandra told PTI that a one lakh square feet facility is being built at Kavu in Puttur Taluk of Dakshina Kannada district at a cost of about Rs 25 crore and it is planned to be opened in February.

It would house arecanut and pepper processing units to start with, followed by cocoa godown at a later stage, among others, he said.

A model kiosk showcasing how cocoa is grown and finally made into chocolates, along with a food joint offering local cuisines, is also proposed there with an aim to promote it as a major tourist attraction, Satishchandra said.

CAMPCO, a multi-state cooperative society, posted a turnover of Rs 1,848 crore in 2019-20.

CAMPCO has targeted a turnover of Rs 2,000 crore in the current financial year, Satishchandra said.

The COVID-19-induced lockdown had no adverse impact on the business operations of CAMPCO, a joint venture between the States of Karnataka and Kerala, he said and also noted that Arecanut is fetching a good price.

CAMPCO had forayed into ecommerce market through e-tailer Amazon with its chocolate products and ‘Winner’, a sweetened cocoa beverage mix.

“We will now add Arecanut and pepper (on Amazon) in January.

We want to reach out to retail customers, home consumers and the younger generation”, Satishchandra said.

The Society would also launch “CAMPCO ON WHEELS” from January for procurement of Arecanut from the doorsteps of farmers, he said.

“This initiative will be started from Puttur (Karnataka) and Kasaragod (Kerala) regions. Depending on the response, we will take a call on expanding it to other areas”, Satishchandra said.

CAMPCO currently operates two exclusive chocolate kiosks at Puttur and Bengaluru.

“We are mulling to start such kiosks closer to tourist attractions in Mangaluru, Subramanya, Kodagu and Mysuru”, he said.

“New products having natural active ingredients are expected to be launched this calendar year end. CAMPCO has planned 2-3 products along with differently flavoured ‘Winner’.

All the products have immunity boosting power”, Satishchandra added.