Silvermill pioneers frozen grated coconut in easy-to-use retail packs

Silvermill recently launched Frozen Grated Coconut at Keells Super, Union Place Colombo 2 in an event officiated by the Minister of Coconut Development and Janatha Estate Development Jagath Pushpakumara, who unveiled a jumbo version of the pack.

The Chairman and officials of the Coconut Development Authority, officials of John Keells Holdings Pvt. Ltd. together with the management and staff of Silvermill were present at the launch.

The Minister and CEO - Silvermill Suresh Silva addressed the gathering at this landmark event of the company which was followed by a traditional treat of kiri bath and a demonstration and tasting of sweet meats made with the product and a viewing of the range of health and instant food packs produced by Silvermill.

The Frozen Grated Coconut comes in handy 125 g (equivalent to ½ coconut) and 250 g (equivalent to a full coconut) packs. It is a boon to busy housewives as it saves considerable time, avoids hassle of strenuous scraping and eliminates disposal issues of residue.  

It is available at several Keells outlets and will be introduced to all leading supermarkets shortly at the mere price of a fresh coconut. The shelf life of the product is six months.

Silvermill Group, founded by Anthony Silva in 1920, remains a family business managed by the third generation of the Silva family, maintaining the same tradition of expert growing, perfect plucking and quality processing of coconut products.  Silvermill has developed modern processing facilities that have successfully produced an innovative range of food products for local as well as international markets.

The attractive clear packaging of the product is designed for consumers to visualise the product and gives comprehensive details of its uses and thawing methods.

 It brings to an end the hassles encountered by housewives, such as; no more buying spoilt nuts, scraping and disposal problems etc.

Simply put, it replaces all the uses of a fresh coconut, easily maintaining its original nutritional value and flavour.

 “A total of 1.9 billion nuts are consumed annually in Sri Lanka, of which 60 per cent is used for coconut milk extraction which is about 1200 million nuts per year,” stated Minister Siriwardena, adding, “In the domestic usage of fresh coconut for cooking purposes, there is usually a considerable wastage of around 30 per cent by way of coconut refuse discarded, especially, in cities where these items are not put to any use.”

Hence when manufactured products like frozen grated coconut and creamed coconut are used, there is value addition created by way of utilisation of discarded coconut shells, refuse etc.

which is a boost for the country’s coconut exports”. Chief Operating Officer - Group Support, Silvermill Holdings Ltd,  Dinesh Silva reiterated, “In keeping with our mission of adding further value to the coconut, we have developed Frozen Grated Coconut after much research with a view to making it a more effective and viable alternative to the scraping of coconut for the extraction of milk for curries or to make Pol Sambol,” he added, “It also appeases our CSR by preventing the careless discarding of coconut shells which lead to mosquito breeding and health hazards like Dengue.”