Kamat Oil Industries is located in Hittalamakki, Gokarna Road, Kumta Taluka, Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka. The coconut processing unit is spread over a 2000 sq ft area. Since 2016, Radhika Kamat (founder) and her family had been involved in the extraction of coconut oil from the copra that was brought to them by the customers. The positive customer feedback and increasing demand for pure edible grade coconut oil motivated her to establish the enterprise in 2020.

She felt the need to expand the food processing business and came to know about the PM Formalisation of Micro food processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme. She applied to the PMFME Scheme portal and received the loan in May 2021 for the up-gradation of her coconut oil processing unit. Upon receiving the loan amount, she purchased the solar dryer which is considered to be the best facility for drying coconut before cutting and oil extraction.

The enclosed chamber of the solar dryer provides an environment for coconut drying that is free from dust and dirt. The chamber also provides fantastic results in terms of minimizing the moisture content of the product.

After drying of coconut, these are then cut into small pieces using a copra cutter and the cut pieces are then passed through a 6 bolt expeller for oil extraction. The process is optimized with the help of a filter press that helps in oil filtration and packaging.

The enterprise uses food-grade pet bottles for the packaging of the coconut oil and locally printed labels.

Radhika, her husband Ramakant along their son Mithun takes care of all the processing activities. Kamat Oil Industries aims to deliver 100% pure edible grade coconut oil to the customers without compromising the quality of the product while following a completely organic way of processing coconut oil.

The enterprise is using social media platforms as a major marketing channel to create awareness about their products and to engage with customers. The positive feedback and reviews from customers on their product have given them a boost in creating positive word of mouth. They are currently selling their products in Uttar Kannada, Mumbai, and Pune. Tourists visiting Gokarna in Uttar Karnataka often purchase their coconut oil.

Radhika Kamat found the online portal of the PMFME Scheme to be extremely useful and easy to communicate with. They felt that the overall approval procedure for availing the loan was smooth and quick. The entrepreneur believes that the mantra to success and growth is to consistently make good quality products and deliver excellent service.

The PMFME Scheme has enabled her to invest and upgrade her food processing unit during the time of the COVID 19 pandemic and to become an Aatmanirbhar Enterprise. The financial turnover of Kamat Oil Industries for FY 2020-21 was around 8 lakh rupees.