Joppu Sebastian : Founder

A graduate in business administration, Joppu worked with McKinsey & Company for three years. After leaving McKinsey, he played a pivotal role in remodelling a prominent NBFC in Kochi and got his first taste of solely managing an enterprise. Firmly rooted to his homeland yet keen on gaining exposure, he was caught at the crossroads of choosing between an MBA abroad and pursuing his lifelong dream of embarking on an Au Natural business venture. For a boy who grew up in constant camaraderie with the countryside, a project partnering with nature appealed to Joppu more than the concrete jungle of the corporate world. Listening to stories of six generations of the family earning their bread from nature’s bounty, a modern and sustainable twist to this legacy was a secretly nurtured desire from childhood.

The universe conspired in favour of this personal pipedream dream and Planters Treasure took root. What he started from a small home-kitchen with the support of family and friends gives wings to many dreams today. When he began, passion fruit was but a little known home grown industry. Less than 500 kilograms of the fruit reached the markets every week. With Planters Treasure giving it a luxury twist, the market grew exponentially. Today, around 7 to 10 tonnes of passion fruit is in the Kerala market per week. When it came to nutmeg, Joppu saw a possibility in using the rind, which is usually discarded to concoct magic with the exotic spice.

Pioneering the use of exotic fruits and spices and rerouting the sustainable food industry in Kerala, he continues to work towards paving greener ways of entrepreneurship, always taking Kerala and her bounty along, in his journey.

Thomas Muthoot : Director

Thomas Muthoot Jr. is heir and grandson of visionary Mr. Pappachan Muthoot of Muthoot Pappachan Group (MPG).

He’s been involved with the Group’s flagship company, Muthoot Fincorp Ltd. (MFL) in day to day operations, for over six years.

He currently heads the Group’s Strategy and Innovation team, which he helped create, in pursuit to foster an ecosystem of varied thinking and disruptions across their businesses

As a director on the board of the Group’s Microfinance entity, Muthoot Microfin Ltd. (MML), Thomas Jr. has been an active member of the core group leading the building up of MML in its initial years. As per the nature of its business, MML’s predominant operations are at the grassroots, working closely with village- level women entrepreneurs. As an active part of the core group, Thomas Jr. travelled extensively and interacted intensively with these simple and yet feisty women entrepreneurs. The deep understanding of these women customers, who face extreme challenges and yet exude positivity and ambition to rise above, has left lasting impressions on his heart & mind which helps him in ensuring that the Group’s values & vision of truly serving the common man, is followed & practiced fully and genuinely.

Prior to stepping into the family business, Thomas Jr. was with global consulting major, KPMG at its New York and Chennai offices, as an Analyst. Apart from a variety of assignments in Process & Internal Audit across various – typically large - KPMG Accounts, Thomas Jr. led a 5-member team which conducted Internal Auditing and Risk assessment for a NYSC-listed ITES Company.