Land's Flavor: Bonda Factory in Mangaluru selling cheap tender coconut water!

Bonda Factory April 2022 Updates

Visited Bonda factory again. Following are the latest updates

A nice place has been made where people can order, get their stuff delivered, sit and drink/eat.  Not very spacious, but can accommodate 10-20 people. It looks lot more hygienic and restaurant like now.

Prices have increased. One liter tender coconut water now costs 26 INR as against 20 last year. One glass of tender coconut water now costs Rs 7 (against Rs 5 last year)

Ice creams are also being sold but about INR 65 per scoop, (80 to 90 for with add-ons)

Land's flavor Bonda Factory is a bulk tender coconut water shop in Mangalore. I came to know about them an year ago, but my visit couldn't materialize because they were open only on weekdays and I wasn't able to visit Mangaluru on weekday just for this. Recently I had some work in Mangaluru and during lunch time I could make a visit to Bonda Factory.

An ice cream factory (brand: Naturals) in Mangaluru procures large number of tender coconut. But they have use only for the cream (Malai/Ganji) of the tender coconut and not for the tasty tender coconut water. Thus they decided to sell it and now Land's flavor is a popular outlet in Mangalore where people go and buy tender coconut water in bulk.

Cost of tender coconut water at Bonda Factory vs outside

A tender coconut sells for Rs 30 to 35 in coastal Karnataka, 40 in tourist spots and even 50-55 in Chennai. Each tender coconut contains between 150 to 400 ml of coconut depending on size of the coconut and size of inside shell. 200-250 ML can be considered as normal average quantity per tender coconut.

Lands Flavor is selling 250 ML tender coconut water for 7 Rs, 1 liter for 26 Rs. That is roughly 5-6 times cheaper than a normal tender coconut you buy at the roadside. On the downside you have to factor travel cost (Bonda factory is roughly 10 kms away from Mangalore city center), you won't get to enjoy the Malai or cream of the coconut. Also what you get is a mixed taste of dozens of tender coconuts which were kept in cold storage.

Tender coconuts are perishable commodity once opened. If stored in refrigerator tender coconut water may last for a day, if not it needs to be consumed within 1 hour of opening.

Bonda factory is open from 10.30 AM to 5 PM on weekdays only, closed on Sundays and Bank holidays (as factory staff will be on leave), 1 to 2 PM lunch break.

Few ideas and thoughts:

Tender coconut water is sold in bottles and tetrapacks by many companies. Lands Flavor bonda factory can think about the same-find a way to preserve it, package it and sell in bulk. Of course some preservatives will have to be added to do this, but they can make more money and less wastage of tender coconut water. RAW is an Indian brand doing that.

The charge, 20 Rs per liter is largely because they have to deploy 2-3 staff members to manage the machines, collect money. If they can find a way to automate it (like pay online and collect from dispensing machines) cost can be reduced further. Price was 16 Rs earlier, recently hiked to 20. Farmers who grew the coconut probably get Rs 5 or 10 per coconut.

Trying to sell inside city might be a good idea- try transporting say 100-200 liters to ice cream shops in city- let them keep it in freezer and sell to locals- might sell in more numbers as people don't have to travel 10 kms to Bonda factory. Traveling 10+10 20 kms for return costs 100-150 Rs in cars, 40-50 Rs in bikes (petrol cost), more if you hire an auto/taxi, may be 30 Rs if you take a bus. So unless you buy in fair quantity or reach there in a cheaper mode of travel, the cost of travel can't be recovered.

I was told earlier a factory visit was possible. Now it is stopped, probably due to covid. I could see a set of tender coconuts waiting on a conveyor belt to be processed. Waited for a while for the machine to start but didn't happen when I was there.. 

So next time in Mangalore, don't miss visiting Bonda Factory

• Timing: 10.30 AM to 1 PM and 2 PM to 5 PM on Weekdays only (closed on bank holidays as well)
• Location: Search "Land's Flavor" on Google maps- location is accurate. On the highway look for this sign- this is where you have to turn. Bonda Factory is barely 200 meters from main road, so you can walk if taking public transport.
• Land's flavor is selling tender coconut water for personal use only, no reselling or other commercial use. Got many queries on twitter asking for contact details, if they ship it to other cities etc- right now visiting in person is the only way to enjoy Bonda factory's tender coconut water for low price.

Things to remember: Carry containers to fill tender coconut in. Depending on how much you think you can consume, you can buy 1, 5 or more liters. Don't get greedy and buy too much- tender coconut will NOT last for long.

Other tender coconut related posts: Tender coconuts around the world * Snowball * How to drink tender coconut without straw?*