Tamarind Processing

The sour story behind the sour condiment

It is estimated that the global market for tamarind will reach $98 million by 2031. India is the largest producer of tamarind, and it is estimated that 200,000 tonnes are produced annually. Yet behind these large figures lies the invisible yet demanding manual labour of small producers, who do not earn enough for their hard work.

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There is high demand for tamarind in India for its versatile uses- as food flavouring, metal polish, and even as medicine.

Yet, the processing of a single tamarind fruit is no easy task. Tamarind needs to be sun dried for a total of 4-7 days during the whole process, with the most cumbersome part of the process being removing the pulp and seed.

There are machines for dehulling and deseeding, but most small producers have not even heard of them. They use basic tools such as the hammer and stone.

Small producers bear the brunt of low output, and get exploited by having to sell their produce at low cost as well as being forced to lease their trees to larger producers who have the machines.

Problem Statement:

How might we spread knowledge about tamarind processing machines to small producers, and help them to acquire these machines so that they have control over the value chain?