Our Story
From a journey in Slovenia to a little piece of Goa in every bar.
From a journey in Slovenia to a little piece of Goa in every bar.
From a journey in Slovenia to a little piece of Goa in every bar.
"Why not Goa?"
PureGoan began with that question. While travelling in Slovenia, I visited the salt pans near Piran and saw how they had become part of the local tourism experience. Artisans made beautiful products from local resources, visitors bought them, and small businesses thrived.
Goa has salt pans too. I grew up passing the ones around Arpora, and many have since disappeared. I wondered: could Goa's own natural resources become the foundation for authentic, locally made products?
The Salt Pan That Started It All
From a journey in Slovenia to a little piece of Goa in every bar.
From a journey in Slovenia to a little piece of Goa in every bar.
Back in Goa, I began researching the local salt industry and met a traditional salt-pan owner in Nerul, who explained how hard it has become to sustain this centuries-old work. I also found that much of the "Goan salt" sold in markets, Goenche Meet, no longer comes from Goa's own pans.
I explored bath salts and other ideas, but nothing felt like the right beginning. Then my mother gave me some freshly pressed Goan coconut oil.
And Then Came the Coconut Oil
From a journey in Slovenia to a little piece of Goa in every bar.
And Then Came the Coconut Oil
I took the oil to Dubai and, on a friend's suggestion, joined a soap-making workshop. I discovered cold-process soap making, with coconut oil as a key ingredient. Together with my trainer, I developed a formulation, and the first PureGoan coconut oil soap was born.
Friends and family gave honest feedback and plenty of encouragement. PureGoan began.
The Meaning Behind the Name
From Coconut Trees to Coconut Oil to Soap
And Then Came the Coconut Oil
What if visitors could take home something genuinely made in Goa, not just a souvenir with "Goa" printed on it?
Our logo carries the answer. Blue is Goa's coastline and the sea. Green is the hinterland: villages, fields and coconut trees. Together they are the Goa we want to preserve.
From Coconut Trees to Coconut Oil to Soap
From Coconut Trees to Coconut Oil to Soap
From Coconut Trees to Coconut Oil to Soap
Many Goan families have coconut trees and often make more copra and oil than they need. I buy from local suppliers at a fair price, often above market rate. The copra is processed at a local mill, and the oil becomes part of our products.
Coconut trees → local families → local mill → PureGoan → customers who value Goa.
Handmade. Small-Batch. Always Evolving.
From Coconut Trees to Coconut Oil to Soap
From Coconut Trees to Coconut Oil to Soap
Cold-process soap lets us experiment, create seasonal products and work with natural ingredients. Our range now includes:
- Handmade cold-process soaps
- Shampoos and conditioners
- Hotel and hospitality amenities
- Gift sets
- Customised products for businesses and resorts
Why Sustainability Matters to Us
Tourism brings people to Goa, and it should also help protect what makes Goa special. We use local ingredients, work with local suppliers, make everything by hand and choose plastic-conscious packaging. What we wash down our drains matters too.
Almost Six Years Later
An idea in Slovenia, questions about Goa's disappearing salt pans and a bottle of my mother's coconut oil have grown into a brand approaching its sixth year in 2026. It has grown through friends, families, tourists, hotels, resorts, local businesses and customers who believe in Goan-made. I'm deeply grateful to everyone on this journey.
Our Dream for Goa
Our Dream for Goa
I want Pure Goan to be a new generation of Goan cottage industries: businesses that use local resources responsibly, create opportunities for communities and give visitors something meaningful to take home. When tourists leave, we hope they carry more than cashew, feni and kokum. We hope they carry something handmade, sustainable and truly Goan.
PureGoan: Made in Goa. Inspired by Goa. Created to keep Goa close.
About Pure Goan Handmade soaps
Keeping Goa Local. Keeping Goa Alive.
Making more conscious choices for our ecosystem. PureGoan began with a simple belief, that something made in Goa should create value for Goa.
We work to create opportunities for local women and families, revive the spirit of Goa's cottage industries and build products that celebrate our natural resources and local craftsmanship.
Every product has a purpose beyond the product itself.
Made by Hands. Empowering Women.
From production and finishing to packaging and preparation, we want to create meaningful avenues for women to participate in the local economy.
Because empowerment isn't only about giving someone a product to sell.
It is about creating a skill, an income and a sense of owners. PureGoan is creating opportunities for local women to earn through skills that can be practised within their communities and homes.
Beyond the Beach
When we talk about protecting Goa, we often think about our beaches.
But Goa is much more than its coastline.
It is our groundwater.Our rivers.Our soil.Our forests.Our wetlands.Our farms.Our biodiversity.
And the communities that depend on them.Every choice we make as consumers eventually becomes part of this ecosystem.PureGoan is committed to making more conscious choices about what goes into our products, how they are produced and how they are packaged.We believe sustainability has to go beyond what looks good on a shelf.It has to consider what happens after the product is used.
Our Mission
At Pure Goan Soaps, our mission is to create eco-friendly, handmade soaps using coconut oil that capture the essence of Goa. We are dedicated to providing natural soap options that are chemical-free, gentle on the skin, and kind to the earth—offering beautiful Goa gifts and meaningful souvenirs that celebrate love for Goa, one bar at a time, including our distinctive hotel soap.