08/10/2025
They say jackfruit smells like ambrosia when ripe—and drowning in more seeds than sense—yet I always saw more than its mess; I saw promise.
I’m Rani Sunny, a homemaker in Idukki, Kerala. For years, my family had acres of jackfruit trees shading our cardamom plants, and each season dozens of heavy green globes would fall — we ate a few, but most just rotted or were thrown away. I watched them waste. Then, in 2017, something changed. I joined a training programme through Kudumbashree, and one idea struck me: every fruit we discard could be a livelihood.
That very year, I decided to start Eden Jackfruit Products. I transformed a small room beside my house into a processing unit. I experimented with dried jackfruit, jackfruit powder, frozen tender jackfruit, seed powder — even jackfruit pulp. I tasted failures: powder that was gritty, slices that browned, mouths that frowned. But I also tasted success: when someone bit into my jackfruit chips and said they were better than banana chips. That moment made me believe.
Each morning, before sunrise, I wake, complete house work, check my 4.5-acre garden, then head to the unit. I source fruit from twenty neighbours, employ ten hands to help process and package. By evenings, I inspect every batch. My daughter Anna watches me tirelessly juggle roles: mother, innovator, boss. She tells me I motivate her—she too returned to work after maternity, inspired by my grit.
Today I earn about ₹8 lakh a year from what used to be kitchen waste. I turned jackfruit from nuisance to nourishing. And I wonder: what treasures are lying unused in your backyard—can you turn what others toss into the pride of your home?
-Rani Sunny
