At the end of last year the global coconut craze caught the eye of Time Magazine. In a brief article it described the rise of the coconut oil industry in Sri Lanka. Other international publications have published articles on pop icon Madonna’s endorsement of coconut water. However, it is mostly the big Asian players that are cashing in on the market.
This growing global market demand for coconut and coconut products has encouraged the government to take several tilts at seeking to revive the sector. Among recent initiatives was a seminar on the industry hosted by Agriculture Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy in January and a ‘coconut expo’ held last Friday. The January event, which had targeted stakeholders in the industry from Region Two to Region Six attracted coconut oil millers, copra producers and vendors in the coconut water trade and sought to have stakeholders produce a plan for the revitalisation of the sector.
Ramsammy has since established an oversight committee to