Day 3 – Visit to production in Dompe
Monday, 6:30 a.m.: We can tell the journey is still taking its toll on us. But the tiredness immediately disappears at the thought of the breakfast that awaits us. 😉 Now things are getting exciting again: What's for breakfast here? The buffet offers plenty of hot and... yes, spicy dishes, like various curries, but also beans, sausages, and the traditional egg hopper: a kind of thin crepe made from coconut milk and rice flour, shaped like a bowl, filled with fried eggs and other add-ons like coconut sambal, a coconut salad with chili, and lime. Ohh... and then there are lots of fresh, exotic fruits like mango, pineapple, and watermelon... what a wonderful start to an exciting day!
After breakfast, we head inland to our partner's production facility. The journey takes approximately 1-1.5 hours. Traffic is significantly heavier than the day before, as Sundays are also a kind of rest day in Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese driving style takes some getting used to; on the narrowest roads, it seems normal for three vehicles to constantly try to drive in parallel. On our journey, we see numerous Buddha statues and temples, as well as an extremely green, fertile landscape with coconut palms and other exotic trees, and rice fields as far as the eye can see.
Upon arrival at the company, we are greeted with a very friendly welcome and introduced to everyone. We receive coconut water as a welcome drink. We take a detailed look at the entire company premises, the production facilities, the machines, all production processes – records, the product range, the certifications, etc.
After the tour, our partner stops at the company entrance. There are two coconut palms with king coconuts – these are the yellow coconuts, which are considered the healthiest. Our partner quickly harvests a few coconuts with a machete and skillfully opens them for us. Mmm… what a refreshing treat! It's just what's needed in temperatures over 30 degrees! Our partner tells us that the yellow king coconuts are considered the king of coconuts – due to their high mineral content such as potassium, calcium, sodium, iron, zinc, and the many essential amino acids. With their high electrolyte content, they are considered an isotonic thirst quencher. Now we're invigorated!
A big lesson learned today: The jackfruit has a veeeery sticky liquid inside, making cutting the fruit extremely difficult. But thankfully, we're dealing with professionals here who know exactly what tricks to use. By the way, pure coconut oil is used to remove the sticky consistency from our hands. What a miracle cure! And, incidentally, a wonderful treat and a wonderful scent for our hands 😊
After all the production employees have had their lunch break in the break area, we are treated to an excellent home-cooked lunch with a variety of jackfruit curries (including less spicy ones 😉 ). Our happiness is perfected with fresh pineapple, mango, and sweet jackfruit for dessert!
After lunch, we move on to product development. We already had some ideas back in Germany that the local team had already implemented. We hold a large tasting and agree on modifications to the first product samples. We are very impressed by the quality awareness and innovative spirit of all employees, as well as the company's flexibility. This makes work fun!
In the evening, we drive to a nature resort (Wasala Nature Resort), where we stay for two nights. The welcome from the staff is so friendly and accommodating that we immediately feel at home. After everyone has freshened up, we have dinner at the resort. Over roasted cashew nuts with coconut oil, chili, and curry leaves, and a glass of local Lion beer, our guide tells us more about Sri Lanka's impressive history. History is fun!
Day 4 – Visit to the various home gardens
For breakfast, we have fresh papaya and pineapple juice, (spicy) fish curry (although we didn't order it spicy 😉 ), lentil curry dal, coconut roti (a type of tortilla), and eggs. What a special start to the day! Well fortified, we can now look at the home gardens. The first stop is a huge garden belonging to a family who live in a beautiful little house right in the middle of it. Here, everything grows as it has for ages: banana plants, next to jackfruit trees, next to coconut palms, next to papaya trees, next to pepper and cinnamon trees, and next to curry trees. And because the family can't eat everything alone, we have an agreement with our partner that he can come by regularly to harvest. And so you have to imagine many different families with their gardens (the so-called home gardens). The plants simply grow in their natural environment in tropical weather conditions, regularly bearing fruit that are waiting to be harvested.
Another highlight is a visit from another family who freshly harvests a ripe jackfruit and expertly carves it in front of us—and for us. We all agree: We haven't often eaten something so special and delicious.
Ok… And then comes this:
It took a while to realize this was a sprouted coconut. But it was clear from the first bite that this white ball inside tasted like a delicious kind of cool meringue.
Full and overjoyed, we walk a few meters further to a home garden where coconut syrup is produced. Here, an expert climbs down 28 coconut palms twice a day (morning and evening) to collect the extracted syrup. Our breath almost catches our breath when we see the skillful and swift technique with which the syrup expert climbs to the top of the palm tree.
In the evening, we go out to dinner with our partner's family and have a wonderful evening! Afterwards, we fall into bed, exhausted, and I'm sure we'll dream about all the delicious fruit.
