A Day at Vaigai Oil Mills: From Seed to Bottle

Our mill sits on Govindhan Street in K.Pudur, Madurai, opposite Mary Ann School. It is not large – a few wooden chekkus, a settling area, a small packing room – and that is the point. Here is a typical day.

6:30 AM – Seeds arrive and are checked

Groundnuts, sesame and copra come from farmers and traders in the districts around Madurai, Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli. Every sack is opened, smelled and inspected. Damp, mouldy or shrivelled seeds are rejected on the spot – bad seed makes bad oil, and no amount of filtering fixes it.

7:30 AM – Cleaning and drying

Seeds are sieved to remove stones and dust and spread in the sun for a few hours if they carry any moisture. Dry seeds press cleaner and the oil keeps longer.

10:00 AM – Pressing

The chekku is loaded with 15–20 kg of seed. For groundnut, a fistful of karuppatti and a little water go in for the karuppatti variety. The press turns slowly for about an hour. Oil trickles into a steel vessel below; the cake (punnakku) is scooped out and sold as cattle feed.

Afternoon – Settling and filtering

Fresh oil rests in covered vessels for a day so the heavier particles sink. It is then filtered through clean cloth. No chemicals, no heat, no centrifuge.

Next morning – Bottling

Oil is filled into food-grade bottles and cans – 200 ml, 200 ml, 500 ml, 1 L, 5 L and 15 kg tins – capped, sealed and labelled with the batch number, packing date and use-by date. Orders from the website are packed, cushioned and handed to the courier by evening.

You are welcome to visit during working hours and see all of this for yourself. Bring an empty can – many neighbours do.