Kerala State Coir Corporation

2021

Being the epicenter of Kerala’s famed Coir industry, Alappuzha will soon host the Coir History Museum in the Kerala State Coir Corporation Building which was previously occupied by the Volkart Brothers. The Volkart Brothers established their coir manufacturing industry in Alappuzha after realizing the potentials of the ‘Golden fiber‘ or coir fibre. The Volkart Brothers were founded by the brothers Salomon Volkart and J.G.Volkart, in 1851 in Switzerland and Bombay.

The abandoned factories and godowns of the Volkart Brothers in Alappuzha, which once produced entire collections of coir products to meet the export demands, have been conserved and will soon house the museum. The administrative offices and other units are conserved and adaptively reused to preserve the rich history of the land. The architecture of the factories makes it easy to ensure that there is good ventilation in the restored buildings. The Coir History Museum will trace back to the origin of the coir fiber, showcase the developments made and the future of the coir sector in the country.