Aurospirul
Established in 1997, Aurospirul cultivates and processs spirulina - a tiny algae that contains extremely high levels of protein and other essential micronutrients.
In the beginning of the 1990s, the late Swiss Bonaventura Chanson founded the beachside Community Simplicity with the vision of starting a spirulina farm. He collected a lot of information and did various laboratory scale experiments pertaining to spirulina cultivation. He also introduced spirulina for consumption within the Auroville community. In 1996, Hendrik van Poederooijen (from the Netherlands) and Tejas Joseph (from Kerala/India) decided to realize Bonaventura's vision and started the project to establish the spirulina farm at Simplicity.
The beachside location of Simplicity Farm became too limited in size to keep up with the growing demand for Aurospirul’s spirulina. Therefore, in February 2008, a new spirulina farm was started at Windarra Community in Auroville's Green Belt. Visitors and clients are welcome to visit Windarra Spirulina Farm.
In February 2016, Simplicity Spirulina Farm closed down and the site was transferred to Varuna for a new project: a desalination plant that will supply water to Auroville. At the same time, Aurospirul took the first steps to establish Kottakarai Herbal Farm, not far from Windarra. At Kottakarai Herbal Farm, medicinal herbs and flowers will be cultivated using organic farming methods.
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