Sustainable & Eco-friendly

Alleppey is known for its longstanding coir industry, which dates back centuries. Coir yarn is being spun here since time immemorial, however first known use of this coir in manufacturing of value added products dates back to as early as 1859. James Darragh, an Irish born American established the first coir factory in the ancient port town.

Alleppey Coir and its products are lessons in sustainability and eco-friendly practices. The coir fibre is extracted through a biological process known as ‘retting’ wherein matured coconut husks are immersed in the saline back waters of Alleppey for 6-10 months. The retted husk is beaten with wooden mallets by female workers. The fluffy, golden-yellow fibre so obtained is used to spin the coir yarn. Today, there are over 250 exporters of coir and coir products in Alleppey and nearly 10,000 small businesses thrive in this industry.

The backwaters of Alleppey and the climatic conditions are key towards producing such premium quality of coir. Keeping this in mind, the Government of India granted Alleppey Coir the Geographical Indications (GI) tag in 2007.

Coir souvenirs in Alleppey

In Alleppey around 25,000 established handlooms form a manufacturing cluster for coir that provides livelihood to about 80,000 workers in the vicinity. The coir is produced through a seven-step process which includes sorting fibre, dyeing, winding, warping and beaming, weaving, finishing and bundling.

An array of mats are produced by weaving Alleppey coir. These are the Fibre Mats, Creel Mats, Rod Mats, Corridor Mats, Sinnet Mats, Bit Mat, Gymnasia Mats, Lovers’ Knot Mats and Mesh Mats. Apart from mats, beds and carpets are also popularly produced in a range of earthy tones using Alleppey Coir.