What makes wood pressed coconut oil different
Most coconut oil on a supermarket shelf has been through heat, bleaching and deodorising before it reaches the bottle. What comes out is clear, odourless and long-lasting — but a lot of what made it coconut oil has been stripped away in the process.
Wood pressed oil takes the slower road. Sun-dried copra is fed into a wooden marachekku that rotates at low speed, so the temperature stays low and the oil is squeezed out rather than cooked out. That is why our oil smells like an actual coconut when you open the bottle, and why it may turn cloudy or solid below 24°C — a natural sign that it has not been refined.
Why customers choose ALAI
- We make it ourselves. Our own pressing unit, our own quality checks. No third-party bottling, no mixing with refined oil to cut cost.
- Unrefined and filter-settled. No bleaching agents, no deodorisers, no hexane, no added preservatives.
- Handpicked copra. Sourced from Tamil Nadu coconut farms and dried properly before pressing — because good oil starts with good copra.
- Pressed in small batches. We press to order volumes, not to fill a warehouse, so what reaches you is fresh.
- Aroma and taste you can check yourself. Open the bottle. That coconut fragrance is the simplest quality test there is.
How to use it
In your kitchen — the everyday cooking oil of Tamil homes. Perfect for temperings, poriyal, sambar, chutney, dosai and deep frying. Its high smoke point handles Indian cooking comfortably, and it carries flavour instead of masking it.
For hair — warm a little and massage into the scalp before your bath. A generations-old routine that needs no explanation in a Tamil household.
For skin — a light, natural moisturiser for dry skin, and gentle enough for a baby massage.
As a finishing oil — a spoon over hot rice with a pinch of salt. Simple, and quietly the best thing you'll eat all week.
Product details
| Brand | ALAI |
| Extraction | Wood pressed (marachekku), low temperature |
| Type | Unrefined, unbleached, undeodorised |
| Ingredients | 100% coconut (copra). Nothing else. |
| Available in | [250 ml / 500 ml / 1 L / 2 L / 3 L / 5 L] |
| Packaging | Food-grade PET bottle, tamper-proof seal |
| Shelf life | 12 months from packing |
| Storage | Cool, dry place away from direct sunlight |
| FSSAI Lic. No. | 22426306000092 |
A note on cloudiness
If your oil looks solid or cloudy, nothing is wrong. Pure coconut oil solidifies naturally when the temperature drops below about 24°C. Place the bottle in warm water for a few minutes and it turns clear again. Refined oils don't do this — so treat it as proof, not a problem.
