An investment of Tk 10 lakhs earns Tk 25 lakhs per month

Summer or winter—there is always more or less demand for Dub. In urban areas, people usually buy dab from vans or specific shops. But what if you order online from anywhere, and the dub comes to you. A company named Coco Green has launched this service in the capital Dhaka.

Canned water is a natural and healthy drink. It contains beneficial minerals, vitamins and antioxidants for the body. Apart from this, canned water has other uses including making puddings. Since the corona epidemic, there has been an increased demand for dubbing in the country. Apart from this, dengue and the severity of heat have also increased the demand for dub over the years. Cocoa Green has joined this business keeping in mind the increased demand of people towards Dub.

Cocoa Green's journey is early 2022. Two friends. Sujan Ahmed and Md. Roknuddaula started this business. Earlier they were doing business of selling various products online. Before that, he worked as a salesman for several companies. Cocoa Green office in a building in Kalyanpur of the capital. And there is a small scale factory in Gabtali. Sujan and Roknuddaula told the story of their entrepreneurship and business with this reporter of Prothom Alo while sitting at the Cocoa Green factory recently. They said that although they sell various products online, they were looking for a sustainable product business.

Starting with Facebook Ads

During the conversation, Sujan Ahmed said that in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and Vietnam, dubbing is cut into specific shapes and sold. In this method, water is kept inside the shell of the can so that the customer can directly drink fresh and clean water from the can. Seeing some such videos on Facebook, they also decided to join this business. At first, two friends advertised on Facebook with a few pictures of the dub cut in this way. It got response from several places. Then they bought 100 dubs from the caravan market for 8 thousand taka. This was their initial capital. Later, they delivered these dubs to the customers on their own bikes.

Roknuddaula, co-founder of Cocoa Green, said, 'Product packaging and presentation is very important for customer attraction. In the beginning we used to cut the cans with a saw and a knife and wrap them and sell them. But it would not have been as beautiful if cut by hand. For this, after a few days, I brought a cutting machine from China at a cost of about six lakh rupees. Now the dubbing is done beautifully through that machine.

Roknuddaula said that there was a lot of lack of experience in the beginning. He said, "Which one is young, which one is fresh water, which one has coconut in it - many times it was wrong to understand them." A lot of dubbing was wasted for this. We have overcome these challenges with time.

**Within next four-five years we want to take our services to major cities and districts of the country. There are plans to start selling dubs in Chittagong outside Dhaka from next month.
Md. Sujan Ahmed, Co-Founder, Cocoa Green**

Who are the customers

Entrepreneur Sujan said that currently 24-25 thousand dubs are sold per month from Cocoa Green. Sales increase in summer. Cocoa Green supplies the dub in small cartons. Each carton contains six cans. Comes with straw and punch kit, with which to pierce the can. They have two types of packages. A medium-sized box costs Tk 840; If the size of the box is a little bigger, the price is 960 taka. With Tk 100 delivery charge. These cans can be stored by keeping them out of the fridge for two days and in the fridge for up to seven days. Dubs are sold at the same price throughout the year. He also said that if there is any complaint of the consumer about the dub, there is an opportunity to refund the money.

Cocoa Green has both corporate and individual customers. They supply dubs to several clubs in the capital, various gymnasiums, hospital canteens, pharmaceutical companies and other institutions. They also have corporate sales in various events including weddings. Apart from this, individual consumers from different areas of the capital also buy dub. More orders are received especially from Gulshan, Bashundhara, Banani, Uttara, Dhanmondi areas.

Product packaging and presentation is very important. In the beginning we cut the cans with a knife and wrapped them and sold them. It would not have been as beautiful if cut by hand. Now the dub is cut beautifully by the machine.
Md. Roknuddoula, Co-Founder, Cocoa Green

dubber's pudding

Once Sujan and Rokon bought 1000 Dubs from Noakhali. When ordered, it was scorching hot; It started raining incessantly. Around 600 dubs remained unsold at this time. Thinking about what can be done with these dabs, the idea of ​​making pudding with the water and shells of the dabs comes to mind. After watching YouTube and on the advice of some people, they experimentally made Dubber Pudding. After getting good reviews from customers, he started making it commercially. Sujan said that currently there is a good demand for their canned water pudding.

Sujan also said that ensuring the quality of dubbing was also a big challenge. If you buy from wholesalers, there are big and small dubs. It can be seen that 20 out of 100 boxes are small, which customers do not want to buy. To solve this problem, they invested eight lakh taka in caravan market. All in all, sales have doubled in the past few years.

► Corporate and premium customers are the main buyers. ► Pudding made from unsold dub, which is becoming popular. ► Planning to expand business to other cities of the country including Chittagong.

More Products Available

Apart from canned water and pudding, Cocoa Green produces seven-eight types of by-products. These include—coconut oil (used in skin and hair care), extra virgin coconut oil (edible oil), coconut milk, coconut barfi, nadu, toasted chips. Apart from this, they sell the soft shell and flower (phopal) inside the coconut separately. Cocoa Green is planning to make charcoal from the scraps (waste) of cans. Sujan said that this will also be a very profitable business.

About 10 lakh rupees have been invested so far in Cocoa Green. And every month in total, an average of 25 lakhs worth of products are sold. 12 employees are working in the company. When asked what the future goal is, Sujan said, 'Within the next four-five years, we want to take our services to the major cities and districts of the country. Outside of Dhaka, there is a plan to start selling dubs in Chittagong from next month.