Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Limited (Campco) recorded a turnover of Rs. 1,200 crore during the year 2013-14, said the cooperative’s president Konkody Padmanabha.
Campco’s areca nut and chocolate divisions did business of Rs. 936 crore and the cooperative was expecting a good profit, he said. Giving the break up of the business at a press conference here on Monday, Mr. Padmanabha said Campco earned Rs. 975 crore from areca nut, Rs. 209.3 crore from chocolate business and Rs. 14.92 crore from rubber. Campco made Rs. 1.03 crore in production of copper sulphate. Mr. Padmanabha said talks were on with a private research firm in Bangalore to bring out a laboratory set-up for measuring the amount of tannin in areca nut. Tannin is used by the wine and beverages industry. “We are in a discussion stage,” said M. Suresh Bhandary, Managing Director of Campco.
Mr. Padmanabha said Campco was preparing to file a petition in the Kerala High Court questioning variance in imposition of tax on area nut. There was lack of transparency in the way areca nut was marketed in Kerala.
