Alappuzha built its prosperity on coir — the fibre extracted from coconut husks — and at its peak in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the town was the world's principal coir exporting port. Warehouses and coir factories lined the canals; the smell of steeping husks was said to carry for miles. The industry has contracted sharply but has not disappeared.
The old coir factories along the canal south of the town centre are worth walking past. A few still operate using traditional retting and spinning methods. The town's heritage as a trading port shaped its architecture — you will find old Dutch-influenced warehouses and British-era commercial buildings near the canal ghats, a reminder that Alappuzha was once a significant commercial hub on the Malabar Coast.