About Us
The Coconut Compost Company was created to ensure that gardeners and growers can switch to this natural, organic, renewable, eco-friendly, and sustainable alternative to peat in their gardens and plants.
Our mission is to minimise our impact on the planet and protect the soil while supporting the people of Sri Lanka. Here is my story.
The Sri Lanka Connection
My great grandfather moved to Sri Lanka to work in the early 1900s.
He fell in love with this tropical island paradise and its friendly people and decided to make it his home where he met his wife, who had left England to become an art teacher. Together, they welcomed my grandfather, who in turn made Sri Lanka his home. Sri Lanka is also where my father was born.
This love of Sri Lanka passed down through the generations to me and I decided to explore my roots and spent a month on the island before starting my degree in International Business Management.
Later, while on my six-month placement from university, I returned to the island, helping to set up a Nai Miris (Scotch Bonnet Chilli) farm in the breathtaking Knuckles Mountain Range.
Whilst there, I discovered that local farmers were using a fantastic eco-friendly material called coir (coconut fibre) to grow their crops, and with incredible success. A waste product from coconut production, this material was 100% sustainable, organic, biodegradable, peat-free and in abundance on the island.
When I returned to the UK, I found that many UK farmers were already using coconut compost to grow their fruits and vegetables.
This sparked the seed of an idea, and The Coconut Compost Company was born. Why not make coconut compost available to everyone in the UK, who simply wants an eco-friendly alternative to peat for growing their vegetables and plants at home?
The Coconut Compost Company has ambitions to become one of the most exciting peat-free compost companies in the UK.
The coconuts are harvested from Sri Lanka, then washed, processed, and compressed into the raw coir material in an eco-friendly and ethically sound factory, then delivered directly to the UK by boat, keeping our carbon footprint low.
Our coconut compost (coir) is proudly:
- 100% biodegradable and renewable (you can harvest coconuts every 45 days)
- Naturally organic, sterile, and free from pathogens or weeds.
- pH-neutral and excellent at retaining nutrients.
- Suitable for all your gardening needs. Just add fertiliser!
- Has a lower carbon footprint than other peat-free compost.
- Absorbs 30% more water than peat.
- Provide quick harvests and bigger yields.
- Can be reused up to three times.
- Compressed before shipping to minimise carbon emissions.
- Easier to rewet when dry than peat.
- Offers excellent drainage and room for the root system.
- Comes in recyclable, biodegradable, plastic-free packaging.
- Lightweight and easy to carry.
- Can be kept indefinitely in its dry form.
Giving back to Sri Lanka
As beautiful as this island country is, it has faced natural disasters, political unrest and economic problems that have left around 7 million people in urgent need of humanitarian aid according to the UN.
Parents struggle to find jobs; children are surviving on one meagre meal per day and schools cannot provide enough materials for their students.
For these reasons, we are passionate about supporting the people of Sri Lanka. We will donate 10% of our profits to charitable organisations chosen by you, support the local community and provide jobs to locals.
We also ensure our suppliers adhere to international environmental regulations and are free from child labour.
Every purchase of coconut compost you make will help support these struggling people.
The future
The Coconut Compost Company is passionate about creating a better future for the planet and its people.
That’s why we will continue to search for even better coir products, work to further improve our sustainability practices and find more effective ways to support the local community.
Together, we can make a difference.