Seychelles: Koko Sey – Ever Tried Cider Vinegar From Mango, Coconut or Banana?

A small Seychelles-based cottage business producing an array of organic condiments from locally grown fruits is seeking to grow the venture, eyeing the international market in the long term.

Owned by husband-and-wife entrepreneurs, Maria and Mark Stevens, “Koko Sey” is bringing to the local market cider vinegar made from mango, banana, pineapple, orange, and coconut. The venture also produces lemongrass tea, hot sauce, lemon preserve, bilimbi extract, coconut hair oil, rosemary hair oil, sundried banana and bilimbi, avocado, and coconut blend cooking oil.

SNA recently met with Maria and she shared that the venture started over one and a half years ago, with cider vinegar being the first product to come to fruition.

She said that despite the business being in its early years, there is great demand from both the local and international markets. Currently, with the couple being the only employees, Koko Sey’s products are only available at the STC hypermarket, SPAR, Fish Tech – both at Anse Royale and in Victoria – as well as the airport duty-free and Temoljee.

“I’ve had interest from abroad with people asking about how they can obtain the products. I also want to export the products. As a country, we need to put our stamp on the international markets, which we’re not doing it. Being a cottage-sized business, Koko Sey cannot provide this amount, and as such it is imperative that I get a space to expand the business. I believe that we do need forex from other sectors in the country,” said Stevens.

She went on to share that nowadays, more people are becoming interested in organic products “as they want to know what’s going into their body, and what is in the products that they consume.”