Ten years ago the Coconoil brand was founded by Gary Stiven following the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami as a way to help rebuild the livelihoods of Sri Lankan farmers.
Stiven, a former field director for Save the Children, visited the island and recognized the untapped resources that coconuts presented and their potential as a tool to help those affected by the disaster.
He began buying coconuts on a small scale and created the brand which now helps keep over 100 Sri Lankans in employment. Coconoil has recently set up a new project with 200 smallholders from five villages in Ghana and hope that in 2015 it can replicate some of the success it has seen in Sri Lanka by creating new jobs and income streams for those involved.
Stiven comments: “It’s been a wonderful adventure over the last ten years, but we’ve never forgotten why the brand was started and I hope consumers and retailers will get behind our latest project and help build on what we’ve created in Sri Lanka.”
