Koraput Bar - Case Study

Koraput Turmeric Bar
Case Study , Mar 2023

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Craftpotli
Sivayan
Matha Sahi
Cuttack, Odisha , India
1
Overview
The brief case study gives insight into a product from a place in India that is long
documented for political rebellion movements, constantly termed unsafe, not connected
and how that one product has brought financial freedom to adivasi women.
The Product
KORAPUT TURMERIC BAR : Made from pure turmeric, hand pounded by adivasi women in
their village cut off from main roads and located on high altitude .
Each bathing bar is 50gm and contains 70 % glycerin based soap based 30 % turmeric and
just one drop of essential oil. (as pure as it can get ).
The product is currently retailed on small platforms and also B2B orders as a set of 2 bars
that comes along a natural cucumber loofah priced at 299/- INR.
An alternate SKU is also set of turmeric bars, cucumber loofah and 50gm of pure sal tree
frankincense used to burn as good vibes/ air freshener etc . The combo pack is called
“Bhutatva Box “ priced at 499/- for shipping across India
Koraput Geography
Decorated by forests, waterfalls, terraced valleys and darting springs, the District draws the
nature loving people. The Koraput District lies at 17.4 degree to 20.7 degree North latitude and
81.24 degree to 84.2 degree east longitude. The District is bounded by Rayagada in the east,
Bastar District of Chhatisgarh in the west and Malkangiri District in the south. As far as the
history of the District is concerned, the region of Koraput existed far back in the 3rd century BC
when it belonged to the valiant and dreaded Atavika people. The region was ruled by several
dynasties, like Satavahans, Ikshvakus, Nalas, Ganga kings and kings of Suryavanshi, who
nominated the Koraput region before the arrival of British. Finally the Koraput became a District
in the year 1936.
People
Kondhas are one of the largest group of tribes in the region. They are largely found in Koraput,
Semiliguda, Pottangi, Nandapur, Lamtaput, Dashmantpur, Laxmipur, Narayanpatna,
Bandhugaon and Kundra block of this district. Traditionally it is believed that the name Kondha
is derived from the telugu word ‘Konda’ which means hill. It also signifies that Kondhas were
mostly found in the highland regions and Koraput which is at a higher altitude houses a large
2
population of them. Chaitra Parab celebrated during the sowing period and Meriah or Kedu
festival observed during the month of February – March are some of their important
celebrations. The women folks in this tribal group are adorned with many ornaments while the
men folks are minimally dressed with a loin cloth. The Kondhas till very recent had the practice
of human sacrifice which was later substituted by a buffalo and this continues now.
PVTG Tribes
A particularly vulnerable tribal group or PVTG (previously known as a Primitive tribal group), in
the context of India, is a sub-classification of Scheduled Tribe or section of a Scheduled Tribe,
that is considered more vulnerable than a regular Scheduled Tribe. The PVTG list was created
by the Indian Government with the purpose of better improving the living standards of
endangered tribal groups based on priority. Kondha is one of the PVTG tribes of India.
Agriculture
The soil and climate in the District are favourable for taking up of agro horticultural activities.
The suitability of soil and climatic condition for production of coffee, cashew, cotton, tobacco,
vegetable and fruits and the production of these crops strengthen the economy of the Koraput
District. The common annual food crops grown in the District are paddy, millet, maize and
pulses. With advent of Government policies, Koraput is gaining momentum because of tribal
coffee growers. Koraput did it first harvest of strawberries.
Milestones
I. Jan’22
We identified that there was excessive turmeric that adivasi Kondhas were growing
in backyards. The produce was excessive that it could not be sold in local haats.
Thats where we thought it needs intervention.
II. Feb’22
We flew 3 persons to this remote village of Koraput who trained 52 women initially.
After initial sampling we were almost ready.
III. Mar’22
3
The village women were still dependant on going to forest to fetch fruits and
vegetables. They would come back from forest, cook and then at night collect at
one place in solar light and prep soap bars at night . Initially the number reduced
from training to production.
We started RETAIL B2C for the bars on website and organic social media here <
https://www.craftpotli.com/category/387011/wellness >
It slowly picked . Our packaging was 100 % plastic free from Day 1. We used seed
papers and sal leaves from jungle to pack our boxes.
Slowly two boys from village who had dropped from college were trained to manage
website orders and coordinate packing .
IV. May’22
We had first breakthrough when one of our customers from Bangalore referred us
to a UN Agency. We did sampling and in no time we were supplying 120 soaps sets
every month to Guatemala assuring income for 1 complete village .
Our retail orders would cover another group.
V. Oct’22
By now we had stabilised our production, packing, dispatch but we wanted to work
on premium packaging. We worked on handpressed stamps, corrugated boxes and
started using “origami” technique for folding our bars which even gave our need for
plastic tape. The brand new soap looks so beautiful and zero plastic.
4
5
Watch video here.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CixRog4oEzu/?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=
6
Watch packaging here

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjXSi6RNqIo/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Some numbers
From Mar’22 - Jan’23 we have served 52 pincodes and close to 1002 soap sets. Overtime, local
government initiative ORMAS supports us. The initiative is still self funded and grassroot work.
Questions:
- How can we scale the retail, channels , modes while ensuring the tribal ecosystem is not
disturbed?
- While there may be many bathing bars in the market , this comes from a PVTG tribe
that’s wholly dependent on forests and gives them solid financial independence while
not disturbing their ecosystem. Keeping this premise in mind, curate a marketing
campaign.
- Suggest strategies for social media to increase engagement and drive sales.
- How can we scale in logistics and use this model to tap other tribal Agro products?

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Koraput Turmeric Bar

Case Study , Mar 2023

Watch video here.

Watch packaging here

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