Fridge designed for India’s rural poor is really cool
Chotukool’s developers ended up with a product that also made its mark in more affluent markets
Having a social conscience can open up a range of benefits and opportunities for business – sometimes unexpected ones.
The Chotukool fridge is one of a growing number of examples that are making India a hotbed of social innovation.
Launched in 2010 by Mumbai-based firm Godrej and Boyce, the Chotukool was developed in response to a largely unaddressed problem of food storage for the rural poor in India, a country where 80 per cent of the population have no refrigerator.
Rather than use conventional compressors, engineers adapted low-power, solid-state cooling technology from the computing industry to produce an affordable, functional and attractive solution to a social need.
Godrej worked closely with rural communities, primarily women, to ensure the product met their needs and was fit for purpose.
Yet in designing a product targeting lower-income consumers, the Chotukool has also become a desirable product in more affluent markets. As a result, Godrej has expanded its range of Chotukool products, even offering customisable options to customers able to pay more. The Chotukool became literally and metaphorically “cool”.