Busy households in Kerala and Malayali shops in the Gulf want tapioca that is already peeled, cut and ready to boil. Thiruvananthapuram grows a large tapioca crop that spoils within days of harvest, so freezing it close to the farms keeps more of its price in the district.
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This unit buys fresh tapioca (kappa) from farmers, then washes, peels and cuts it, part-boils some of it, and freezes it in sealed packs. Plain frozen pieces are the main line. Ready-to-heat kappa dishes can follow.
NABARD's credit plan for the district lists tapioca on 14,460 hectares, its biggest crop after coconut and rubber. It puts food and agro processing credit potential at ₹80.60 crore. Fresh tapioca goes bad within two or three days of harvest, so farmers must sell fast; freezing lets you buy in season and sell all year. The national tuber crops research institute at Sreekariyam, in the city, works on ways to process and store tubers like tapioca.
You need an FSSAI food licence, a clean processing hall, a blast freezer (a machine that freezes food very fast), a frozen store and generator backup. The hard part is the cold chain: power bills are high, shops must find freezer space for your packs, and other Kerala firms already sell frozen tapioca abroad. Tuber quality also varies; some batches turn out hard or fibrous.
Sell to supermarkets and fish shops with freezers in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, to working households in the Technopark area through online grocery apps, and to exporters supplying Malayali shops in the Gulf.
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