§1What this business is

Matured coconut water is strained, mixed with sugar and glacial acetic acid, boiled for 10 minutes and cooled. A culture of Acetobacter is added and the liquid is poured into wide-mouthed glass or plastic jars, covered with paper or thin cloth and left undisturbed for 2–3 weeks. The thick jelly layer that forms on top is lifted, washed well to remove the acid and cut into cubes. The cubes go into flavoured sugar syrup, are boiled again, packed in glass jars or retort pouches, sterilised and sealed. Nata-de-coco is eaten as a dessert and added to ice cream and fruit cocktails.

Capacity: 100 litres of matured coconut water a day, giving 20 kg of nata-de-coco.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

A home-scale or self-help group food maker close to a copra or desiccated coconut unit that can supply coconut water daily.

Who it is not for

Anyone who cannot keep a very clean fermentation room or has no steady source of fresh coconut water.

Advantages

  • Very small outlay of ₹2.5 lakh besides land
  • Uses matured coconut water that copra and desiccated coconut units throw away
  • Equipment is plain glassware from local laboratory stores
  • Sells both as a dessert and as an ingredient for ice cream makers

Drawbacks

  • Each batch takes 2–3 weeks to grow, so cash comes back slowly
  • Little known to Indian buyers outside a few cities
  • Any contamination spoils the whole batch
  • Profit in the profile is only ₹1 lakh a year at this size

Skills you need

  • Keeping and growing a live Acetobacter culture
  • Strict cleanliness in fermentation
  • Syrup making, bottling and sterilising
  • Finding dessert, ice cream and bakery buyers

Why difficulty 2/5: Cheap and simple to set up, but fermentation hygiene and finding buyers need care.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Ice cream and dessert makers
  • Fruit cocktail and canned fruit packers
  • Bakeries, juice parlours and supermarkets

How it sells

  • Direct supply to ice cream and dessert units
  • Retail jars or pouches through shops
  • Online sale under own brand

Good to know

  • The profile takes a selling price of ₹40 per kg.
  • The profile prints equipment and glassware as one line of ₹0.5 lakh, sourced from local glassware and laboratory stores; item-wise costs are not printed.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Glass vessels——
Wide-mouthed glass jars——
Sterilised bottles——
Measuring cups——
Water bath——
Refrigerator——

From: Coconut Development Board project profile — Nata-de-coco

  • Matured coconut water100 litres a day
  • Sugar and glacial acetic acidmixed into the coconut water before boiling
  • Acetobacter culture solutionadded after the liquid cools
  • Flavoured sugar syrup, glass jars or retort pouchesfor the final pack

From: Coconut Development Board project profile — Nata-de-coco

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam registration
  2. GST registration
  3. FSSAI licence or registration
  4. Trade licence from the local body
  5. Legal Metrology registration for packed goods

We can do this registration for you

Start it in your state

Pick your state: today’s cost, central + state subsidy, raw material, land and help, on one page.

§6Schemes & subsidies

The unit is far below PMEGP's ₹50 lakh ceiling for manufacturing, and PMFME supports micro food processing units. A small MUDRA loan is enough for the equipment. Also ask the Coconut Development Board about help under its Technology Mission on Coconut.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Building of 500 sq ft ₹2.0 lakh + equipment and glassware ₹0.5 lakh = ₹2.5 lakh. The profile prints only these 2 cost lines and no total; they are added here. Land of 5 cents is extra (the profile calls its cost variable) and working capital is not printed.

Year not printed on the Coconut Development Board profile — check current machinery prices.

How to prepare a loan file

§8Export potential

Export council / board: Coconut Development Board

  • The profile gives no HS code; confirm the code before exporting.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Mould or wild bacteria spoiling batches
  • Coconut water souring before it reaches the unit
  • Weak demand for an unfamiliar product
  • Culture losing strength over time

§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan

A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.

  1. Days 1–30: Visit a working nata-de-coco (coconut water jelly) unit unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
  2. Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Udyam registration, GST registration), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
  3. Days 61–90: Space and machines, trial production, and first deliveries to 10 customers.

§11Who to connect with

§12Watch

There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.

Want to start Nata-de-Coco (Coconut Water Jelly) Unit?

DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. Coconut Development Board project profile — Nata-de-coco

Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.