Engale Cafe opens at Nilambur offering exclusive tribal products

Engale Cafe in Malappuram offers exclusive products from tribespeople, showcasing their unique forest produce in a one-of-a-kind outlet.

MALAPPURAM

An exclusive retail outlet selling special products of tribespeople living in the forests of Nilambur has started functioning at Nilambur. The outlet named Engale Cafe will be the only one of its kind in the country, claimed Jan Sikshan Sansthan (JSS), which set it up.

Engale Cafe will be functioning under the Gotramrut Tribal Agri Products Company. “I don’t think anywhere else in the country is such a venture being initiated,” said JSS director V. Ummerkoya. The Gotramrut company is owned and operated exclusively by tribespeople.

Value-added products made out of many minor forest produce collected by tribespeople, including wild honey, will be available at Engale Cafe functioning in front of the Teak Museum at Nilambur.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) had lent financial support for Gotramrut to set up the shop. “We aim to sell value-added products made out of various fruits, roots, and bulbs collected from the forest,” said Mr. Ummerkoya.

Various types of chips prepared in coconut oil, dishes of tapioca, wild bulbs, chillies, and several other products are available at Engale Cafe, which functions from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day.

Nabard chief general manager Baiju N. Kurup inaugurated the cafe. He said a company like Gotramrut, with 100% ownership of tribespeople, was a model for the whole country.