Kalarickal Coir Mills

Down here in Cherthala, near the Muttathiparambu P.O., things move at a slightly different speed. At Kalarickal Coir Mills, we are surrounded by the smell of coconut husks and the sound of the machinery running. It’s a dusty job, and you’ll usually find some of the fiber stuck to our clothes by the end of the day. The mill has been part of the landscape here for a long time, and many of us have lived in the village our whole lives. We don’t have a fancy website or a marketing team; we just have the mill and the work we do every day. The office is really just a desk near the front gate where we keep track of the loads coming in and going out. Sometimes the rain makes things difficult, especially when we are trying to dry the fibers out in the yard. We spend a lot of time checking the machines to make sure they aren’t clogging up. It’s loud inside when everything is running, so we’ve learned to talk over the noise or just use hand signals. Lunch is usually a quiet affair under the shade of the trees outside. It’s simple, honest work that keeps us busy from sunrise until the late afternoon. We aren't trying to change the world, just making sure the coir is processed the way it’s supposed to be before it gets loaded onto the trucks for the next destination.