Financial Times

Struggling businesses
Coconut oil - from a bullock cart to a lorry
By Quintus Perera
From trudging along with a bullock cart selling fresh coconut oil, 30 years ago, T.G. Jeyarajan, a small-time trader from Kanuwana, Jaela has come a long way but still uses the same, old tank fixed to a lorry to serve his faithful clients. The struggle however, he laments, continues for him to make a decent living for his family with the biggest threat being widespread imports of palm and vegetable oils that cuts into coconut oil manufacture and sales.

Despite the difficulties, Jeyarajan has survived the ups and downs of a business he started on a bullock driven oil cart (pol-thel karathe). He started life in 1970 as a salesman in a grocery store at a time when there were import restrictions and constraints in the sale and movement of food items like rice, etc.

The store-owner bought Jeyarajan a bullock-cart with a small tank and asked him to sell coconut oil. For a long time he was distributing small quantities to boutiques and with lots of hard work amidst a range of difficulties managed to develop three areas - Seeduwa, Pamunugama and Kotugoda - to sell his product to some 75 shops. Oil was supplied at regular intervals.

Many other oil traders like him stopped selling oil and moved onto other business, unable to withstood the competition from other oil sources. However he survived, supplying pure, unadulterated coconut oil to customers of his employer.

Then came the 1983 riots, and his employer, a Tamil, closed the business leaving Jeyarajan struggling for a while until he was able to go into business on his own.

The hard-working trader woke up at around 4 am every month, fed the bull, filled up the tank and by 8 am he was on the road. With his bullock cart, Jeyarajan supplied oil to his customers till sunset.

He married in 1986 and the couple now has four children - three daughters and a son. One daughter is married and the son who was earlier interested in mechanics now helps the father in the oil distribution business.

"Due to bad times for the coconut industry and due to the import of palm oil, a large number of coconut oil mills have been closed. What happens now is that palm oil is mixed with coconut oil and sold at (for example) four litres at Rs 350 or less while pure coconut oil costs Rs. 400 for the same quantity," he said adding that," "the unfortunate situation is that it is very difficult to identify the mixed oil.” Only during frying can you detect the difference in the oil quality. Adulterated oil generates more bubbles than pure coconut oil".

Finding it difficult with the bullock cart and needing to be more competitive, Jeyarajan abandoned the cart in 1995 and bought a second hand land master tractor, fitting the old tank onto it. However after a while the land master gave trouble and that too was disposed in favour of a small, second hand lorry which was purchased about four years ago from Rs 50,000 borrowed from a bank plus all his savings.

The advantage with the lorry is that he can go and buy his oil from Pannala, which offers the best prices, and is able to bring in large quantities. The old tank is strapped to the lorry from either side with coir ropes. The rugged trader still starts work at 4 am - although the lorry has replaced the bull.

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