Mane Kancor’s sustainable sourcing initiative sees results

As the global demand for natural and organic products increases, the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged international producers of mint-based products to turn to India which produces 85% of the world’s mint supply. 

With this increased demand for high-quality mint-based products, leading flavour and fragrance company, Mane Kancor, is encouraging supply chains to adopt sustainable sourcing methods for mint. 

Mane Kancor’s pioneering Mint Sustainable programme

Back in 2016, Mane Kancor introduced its pioneering Mint Sustainable programme. Since its introduction, the programme has gained global attention, addressing sustainable development goals (SDGs) from nursery to distillation. 

"It all started when we realised that the farmers were shifting away from mint cultivation due to continuous increase in cost of inputs- high cost of cultivation, reduced productivity, climate change and market fluctuations. It increased the cost of production of mentha oil while alternate synthetic variants were 25-30% cheaper," commented Geemon Korah, CEO, Director, Mane Kancor.

Supporting mint farmers, Mane Kancor brings modern cultivation practices to the table. "We introduced a technology called Early Mint Technology (EMT) with the help and guidance of scientists from CIMAP (Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants)," said Korah.

According to Mane Kancor, EMT increases the yield of farmers by 20%, reduces the cost of cultivation by 20%, and reduces the irrigation requirements by 25%. 

"We are now closely working with CIMAP to provide the latest high-yielding and climate-resistant planting material. CIMAP has developed the latest variety of the crop 'CIM UNNATI' which is claimed to increase the yield by 20%," said Korah.

Mane Kancor trains 7,000 farmers 

Part of its Mint Sustainable programme, Mane Kancor has trained 7,000 farmers on sustainable agricultural practices, preparing them for certification by the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) platform under the Farm Sustainable Assessment (FSA) programme.

The platform provides access to better markets and better prices for farmers. All fields are geo-tagged and geo-mapped with remote sensing and satellite imagery to ensure traceability of raw materials. 

Mane Kancor also supports local steam distillation plants by helping to improve efficiencies. It also provides direct links to a market of sustainable mint farmers where the minimum support price (MSP) is fixed at the beginning of each year. 

Mane Kancor expands its manufacturing capacity

Alongside Mane Kanor’s dedicated mint oil and menthol manufacturing facility at Bareilly, the flavour and fragrance company is in the process of expanding its capacity across its manufacturing facilities in India. 

Mane Kancor’s world-class innovation centre at Angamaly hosts expert analytical teams and top-of-the-line technologies that conduct research and development (R&D) in many natural product segments.