In 1984, Mr Modi took a small loan from SBI and founded Hyderabad Food Products
Spicing up life: Ravindra Modi, the founder of city-based spices company Surya Masale
HYDERABAD: Indian businesses in the last century that have withstood the test of time are mostly family owned. Progeny followed in the foot steps of their forebears and in very rarest of rare cases diversified.
A large number of the owners were educated just enough to count, learnt the trade by perception and stayed put in the town of business. In the case of Ravindra Modi, the managing director of Surya Masale, it was quite the opposite.
Mr Modi hails from a small town of Hingoli in Maharashtra. As a child, he wanted to get a masters degree in business management, which for some reasons did not happen. But he ended as a post-graduate in chemical technology, with a specialisation in food technology the option that helped him in his entrepreneurial journey.
“During a conference, an American told that how they can distinguish people with roots Irish, Italian or English only on the basis of their food habits, which they haven’t changed even after leaving home countries centuries ago.
So he said we must never impose upon people new foods as a marketer but make the food convenient,” Mr Modi explained.
The American’s speech got him thinking about doing something in the food. After a small stint of 16 months with a seeds company, he came to Hyderabad to set up a third party bakery with a small saving of '40,000. Without a business lineage, he found that setting up a company in a new city was a tough task. The bakery, despite his efforts, did not materialise and as he was destined to find success somewhere else.
In 1984, Mr Modi took a small loan from SBI and founded Hyderabad Food Products to produce powders from spices such as chilli, turmeric and coriander under the brand name of Surya.
“The spice market was highly unorganised. Adulterated products were cheaper than the raw materials. So I thought that if we produce a good quality product, the consumers will accept it very well. However, the product failed to move fast. And it took five years for me to earn profits,” he recalled.
Growing from strength to strength the product range was extended to other spices such as black pepper, cumin, mustard, so on and so forth. It markets its products throughout Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Orissa.
Mr Modi credits the success to his team members who are 300 large today and some who have been with him for over 25 years.
For an establishment that made no profits for the initial five years, to go on to presently manufacture 8,000 tonnes of spices, 2,000 tonnes of pickles and pastes, 2,000 tonnes of blended masalas, 6,000 tonnes of namkeens and sweets, it has been a rem-arkable journey. Insti-tutional sales has a major portion in the firm’s phenomenal growth chart. With his son Varun getting into the business.
The company has started expanding their product reach, registered itself with online grocery retailers as well as large B2B buyers which has helped it to reach out to new markets.
They shortly want to come out with “feel good retail outlets” across the state. Mr Modi in retrospect claims, “The secret to good business is winning the customer’s trust is through honesty and the belief that one day you will overcome through resilience.”
( Source : dc correspondent )
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