In a class conducted by the Kerala Agricultural Department in 2019, Jaimy Saji found out that jackfruit is the most wasted fruit in India and decided to find ways of using it.

She prepared a dessert out of dried and powdered seeds of the jackfruit, which became an instant hit among friends and family.

This gave Jaimy the idea of making more such products and selling them all year round.

In 2019, she started Holy Cross Industries, a venture to support jackfruit farmers by making value-added products and reducing fruit wastage.

With the help of her husband, she was able to customise a machine that could clean and powder the seeds in larger quantities.

The jackfruit seeds go through two levels of cleaning. The plastic-like outer skin is removed, and the seeds are then dehydrated and powdered.

The company makes a host of preservative-free products like dosa mix, idiyappam mix, steamed cake mix, coffee powder, and instant payasam mix.

They also produce other items from the fruit, such as dehydrated jackfruit, jam, frozen tender raw jackfruit, jackfruit pulp, and health drink mix.

Jaimy currently has eight full-time employees. She says, “All of them are neighbourhood women who were homemakers, like me. It was my desire to provide employment to at least a few women while starting this enterprise.”