Cocoguru is the pioneer and the only brand to make roasted coconut oil for cooking in the coastal Karnataka region. Marketing is very risky because of several myths that consumers have about it.

All micronutrients are destroyed during roasting.
Oil millers who can’t invest in roasting equipment and take the risk of marketing it just mislead consumers. They claim their oil has all the micronutrients, like vitamins, remaining intact. The fact is that coconut oil is 100% fat, with no micronutrients. If they are present in traces, they are retained even after roasting. Nobody consumes coconut oil for its vitamins; it is for its fat. Roasting of copra is not a process that destroys the properties of coconut oil. It is a small process that only enhances the fragrance and taste of coconut oil. People equate roasting with refining. Refining is a highly complex process that people think of, but roasting is a small process, like drying copra.

The oil’s colour is yellow. Hence, it is inferior.
Oil extracted from copra that has gone bad will be of darker colour. Oil extracted from copra after roasting is also darker or yellow in colour. But they cannot be equated. The point is discussed in detail in this post. Why is Cocoguru coconut oil yellow in colour? The English metaphor “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is appropriate here. Smell it and experience it entirely before judging the oil.

It is not suitable for cooking; it is appropriate only for hair.
It is an edible oil, highly recommended for cooking. In addition to normal cold-pressed coconut oil, roasted coconut oil also adds to the flavour, aroma and taste. The whole kitchen and dining will be scented with divine coconut flavour. Heating food items moderately is not bad, in fact it is good and sometimes essential. Rice has to be cooked with steam, chapathi has to be roasted before eating. We never say rice or wheat has lost its quality in the process.

It is not naturally possible to have such a sweet aroma and taste; it must be perfumed.
I have heard these objections many times from retailers. I show them by drinking a few drops of oil to convince them. Sweet aroma and taste are emitted after the roasting of copra pieces. Experience the difference between raw ground nuts and roasted ground nuts. The more you heat tea leaves, the more aroma and flavour they emanate.

Shelf life is high because of the use of preservatives.
Roasting of copra dries out any moisture still left in the copra. Moisture causes rancidity in oil. This is the reason cold-pressed oils and wood-pressed oils go rancid fast as they contain too much moisture. Heating also sterilises the bacteria and fungus in copra. So, shelf life is enhanced without adding any preservatives.

Wood Pressed oils are a craze now. This can be seen in the products sold on Amazon and the number of such outlets opened in towns because of the massive consumer preference. I don’t say they are wrong because they compare it with what they consume today, i.e., refined oil. However, they are wrong when they compare wood-pressed oil with corresponding expeller-pressed crude, filtered oil. Health consciousness should rise, but they should also know what is healthy. Not go with what is popularly happening but scientifically reason it. Usually, what is priced higher is good, but not always. This fad about wood-pressed oil is one such exceptional case.

We don’t debate that wood-pressed oil is inferior to refined oil. Wood-pressed oil is far superior to refined oil, period. But is it the best way to make oil? The answer is NO! Let us analyse this.

Two types of machines to extract crude oil from copra

• Expeller is a fully closed arrangement; moisture should be removed entirely from the copra.
• Rotary is an open conical grinding machine; moisture must be present in the copra for lubrication.

Debate – which is better?

For expeller

• Moisture causes oil to go rancid. A better extraction mechanism should remove moisture so that expeller oil has a longer shelf life.
• The expeller squeezes more oil from the copra than the rotary. So, extraction efficiency is better, oil costs will be lower, and oil cake will have lower oil content wasted.
• By increasing the size and supplying more power, an expeller can crush a greater quantity of copra. This allows automation of the entire process on a larger scale.
• Oil extracted through an expeller from dried copra can be filtered online through a filter press. Oil extracted from rotary from moist copra can only be filtered by sedimentation, which will take 7-10 days. So, an expeller gives faster throughput and requires less inventory.
• The oil smells and tastes better because copra is heated to some extent.

For rotary – only argument

• Copra is not heated, so the properties of coconut are retained.

What properties of coconut would have been lost by heating? The common answer is vitamins. Any coconut oil contains 99.9% fat and 0.1% moisture. That means there is no other nutrient in coconut oil. Forget Vitamins; coconut oil has no carbohydrates, proteins, or minerals. It is only fat.
Heating may go up to 80 degrees in the expeller and 60 degrees in the rotary. At both these temperatures, the fats don’t undergo any change. If heating food is bad, then why do we cook rice, roast chapatis, and pasteurise milk? Shouldn’t we consume them raw?

From the rotary, it goes further down to the wooden rotary instead of the steel rotary.

• The extent to which oil is squeezed from copra is even lower. So, oil yield is lower, labour cost is higher, and hence, oil cost is much higher.
• The heat generated is even lower. So, there is no value addition of heat.
• Wood absorbs moisture and oil and retains it. This isn’t good for food hygiene and safety.
• When the wood press is unused, bacteria and fungus develop on the surface.

So, we have argued that rotary oil is inferior to expeller oil, and wood-pressed oil takes it a step further and is inferior and more expensive.
Now, in an expeller, roasting copra before oil extraction increases the quality to another level by enhancing flavour, taste, aroma, and shelf life.

I had been to Kalasa, Chikkamagaluru for developing our business there. While I was talking to a famous coffee maker Varamahalakshmi Coffee Works, he asked me how is that your coconut oil last much longer compared to other coconut oils? It was a great opportunity for me to highlight how different and superior Cocoguru coconut oil is compared to other coconut oils. Since he was curious, he listened carefully. Normally retailers don’t care, we rarely get to explain, if at all we get, they hardly listen. These are the factors which I explained

1. Copra making method
Copra is made from coconuts in 2 methods. 

a. Fresh copra
Here fresh coconut is cut into two and immediately sun dried to get copra. This method is followed in coastal Karnataka and Kerala during summer and Tamil Nadu. Because of its freshness it would have undergone minimal deterioration.

b. Ball copra
Coconut with shell and husk is kept in attic for a long time to let coconut water in it slowly dry. After 6 months, moisture would have evaporated and kernel inside would become like a ball and separated from the shell. This type of copra popularly called as Tiptur edible ball copra is used for direct consumption. This method is used in Deccan platue regions of Karnataka. Those that are not in regular shape and size is used for oil milling purpose. Since the copra has become old, it would have undergone some deterioration. Milling copra is selected after selecting edible copra.

To make Cocoguru coconut oil only copra made from sun drying of fresh coconuts are used.

2. Copra Segregation
Copra is segregated to select only good quality ones and bad quality ones are separated. Only good quality copra gives good quality oil despite the best of processes further.

3. Copra drying
Moisture causes rancidity in cooking oil. So, moisture is removed by drying copra using hot air before oil extraction.

4. Copra roasting
Copra roasting further removes moisture and sterilises copra.

5. Oil Extraction
Coconut oil is normally extracted from copra in 2 types of machines, rotary and expeller.

a. Rotary
In rotary machine, copra with 8% moisture is crushed in a rotary machine, oil is then filtered by sedimentation in barrels for 7 days.

b. Expeller
In expeller, copra with 2.5% moisture is crushed in an expeller, oil is then filtered online through filter press.

Cocoguru coconut oil is extracted from dried copra using expeller and filtered through filter press. Popular perception is that oil that is cold pressed/wood pressed/rotary crushed is natural and superior, also it looks white/colourless. It is suitable only for immediate consumption and yet very ineffecient. Oil yield is low, moisture causes rancidity. Roasted coconut oil extracted through expeller is long lasting, safe, aromatic and tasty yet retains natural properties.

6. Fine filtering
Filtering removes solid particles and moisture, when done finely and thoroughly, it improves oil appearance and shelf life. At Cocoguru, coconut oil is double filtered.

7. Tight packaging
Packing is a way to hold, protect, carry and exhibit the oil. When done well, it goes a long way in ensuring shelf life and convenience of use. In our case shelf life increases from 6 months in PET bottles to 12 months in Jerry Cans.

8. Inventory management
We carefully manage stocks at manufacturing, distribution and retailer points to ensure the stocks are fresh and in good condition, so that consumers get fresh stock.

Overall, it is about careful taking care of each aspect of manufacturing and business process, not about chemicals and preservatives. For many manufacturers their scope ends when their products reach the wholesalers, for us it is about consumer experience.