Jacob Thundil becomes first Malayalee to enter 'Dragons Den'

Dragons Den is a BBC Television Series in the UK where entrepreneurs get three minutes to pitch their business ideas to five multi-millionaires willing to invest their own cash.

The first Malayalee to enter the Den on Sunday the 21st August 2016 was Jacob Thundil from Kollam.

Unsurprisingly as a young boy he brought lasting memories of coconut water and other coconut based products to the UK. The seed had been sown where it would lay dormant whilst he travelled outside of his homeland and continued his studies.

The lightbulb moment arrived in 2004when he was sitting on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro sipping coconut water straight from the nut. He realized he could bottle the water and sell it and went on from there to become the first in 2005, to start selling coconut water in the UK.

After the first batch was sold he produced another 2,000 units and took them to a festival in Regents Park. He then let the public sample his coconut water and so began the process of finding the best tasting species of coconut for the UK palate. Cocofina won the coveted Excellence in Food and Drink Award in 2005 and has never looked back since.

Fast forward to 2016 and Cocofina now has a range of 30 products and is sold in thousands of stores in 28 countries including iconic stores like Harrods. Thought of as a premium brand, it has achieved growth year on year and is proud of its proprietary quality control process which has ensured this standard is maintained. Cocofina won seven Great Taste Awards from The Guild of Fine Food in 2015.

Innovation is very much at the heart of the brands' approach to creating new and exciting products to take to market, with its' 10ml on the go Organic Coconut Oil sachet a case in point. With 11 new products launching this year and in 2017, Cocofina continue to show just why they are the coconut experts. Jacobs' recent appearance on Dragons Den, was a continuation of the brands' success, as investment was secured.

Jacob struck a deal with two multi-millionaire investors Sarah Willingham and Nick

Jenkins for 75,000 pounds for 10 percent equity each with an option to buy back five percent from each investor. Jacob commented that Cocofina will turnover 3.5 to four million pounds this year and wanted the contacts and experience more than the money.

Sarah's deep knowledge, experience and understanding of the food business and supply chain coupled with Nick's marketing expertise and incredibly strong and successful track record, make them the perfect duo for Cocofina.

Cocofina now has new listings with premium lifestyle retailer Lakeland have been secured. Cocofina products will now be available in all 60 UK stores and its award winning organic coconut oil, nectar and butter will feature in the 2016 Lakeland Christmas catalogue.