Say a big hello to the Areca tree.

It’s a handsome palm species that grows abundantly in warm, sunny Asia. Folks there grow it primarily for its seed. You could say it has a lot in common with nutmeg. The seed is dried, crushed and rolled together with limestone in a leaf and chewed. A favourite pastime in the sub-continent. We have nothing to do with it.

Our interest lies in the leaf. An army of women pick the leaves (only the fallen ones, never the fresh) and carry them in bags to the factory on our plantations.

Here they are thoroughly cleaned under high pressure water jets and dried in the sun . When they are nice and crisp they are pressed under special molding machines into the shapes you see here.

It is then packed into cartons and shipped, only to make a grand entrance at your next pool party.