He might not have gone to a management school, but his techniques sure speak volumes about his business acumen. How else do you explain the success of Kewal Krishan Kumar, chairman and managing director of Shakti Bhog Foods Ltd, which has a turnover of over Rs 1,400 crore.
The company has around 70% of market share in the branded wheat flour segment in North India and plans to make it big in South India now. In fact it launched in Bangalore and some neighbouring areas in June this year. And Kumar is only eyeing more customers. He plans to acquire two-three food product companies in India in this fiscal year and get into joint ventures in Australia and Dubai.
What is interesting is that Kumar didn't inherit it all. He has humble beginning. Before Partition, his grandfather had a little grinding unit in Anarkali Bazaar of Lahore and after Partition, his father started a grinding unit to produce besan (chick pea flour) in India.
Kumar is a boisterous man who might want things fast, yet doesn't believe in letting the quality suffer. It's little surprise then that Shakti Bhog Atta is today a household name in wheat consuming homes. It's the mass market that Kumar targets. He doesn't mince his words when he says, "The richer you are, the lesser you tend to eat. The Kellogg's eating variety will probably have one chapatti, but for chapatti eating population, it's our atta that forms the staple food."
What is interesting to note is that MNCs have come and gone, but Shakti Bhog has stood its ground with its people's power. "This is not exactly a great profit making business. A lot of people have come and gone. We bought over Nature Fresh two years back. Today even biggies are having problems in flour business. I created a name for my atta long before these people even dreamt of flour business."
And when the government banned export of wheat products last year, Kumar diversified into ready to eat products and now supplies to 47 countries.
Kumar's entry into flour business was almost accidental. As a student of Sri Ram College of Commerce, Kumar took interest in his father's business but probably just as a young boy curious about his family business. It was one incident, however, that changed his life. His mother had sent him to grind some flour. Those were the good old days when people took their own wheat to little grinding units.
Kumar, however, had a movie to catch with friends and couldn't afford to stand in the long queue. And that's when he thought of buying a packet of atta. He wasn't sure how his mother would react, but he quietly bought it and kept it at home. Later he asked his mother about the quality of the flour and she said it was nice. "That is when I thought of starting a business of packaged atta." The year was 1980. The family didn't think there was a market in packaged flour, but Kumar was determined to make it. So, while he did take care of his father's business, he also started working on his idea.
A believer in Goddess Durga, Kumar decided to call it Shakti Bhog. Also, since wheat is the staple diet of a large Indian population, Kumar thought the name was just appropriate. Kumar did his own research from individually taking packets of his factory ground flour in autos to understanding what people wanted. The first year saw him suffer a loss of about a lakh , but it wasn't enough to deter him. "Something told me that I'd make it. I didn't even tell my family about the loss."
In a year, Kumar's determination bore fruit when Agmark approached him to certify his flour for quality. "It was a great feeling," confesses he. Slowly the business started picking up. And if something that has kept his products going, Kumar says, it's their quality. "I don't believe in compromising on quality. You expect the best only when you give it your best. I give my products the best I can and I have been getting returns in the form of growing consumers."
Today, Kumar has 16 factories that run 24/7. It's little surprise that from 50 quintals a day, his factories now produce 50 lakh quintals of flour every month. What has also kept Kumar growing is the fact that he has constantly evolved with time. When MNCs entered, for example, he did a little repackaging.
Last year when the government banned exports of wheat, Kumar didn't fret about the fact that he would lose business in 47 countries. Instead, he started thinking of alternative business plans.
He says, "When you are determined, you will surely find a way." Soon his research team came up with the idea of exporting rice, multi-grain porridge and ready to eat food.
Given the present rage for health foods and Indian foods internationally, Kumar had hit the bull's eye. By September this year, he plans to launch these products in India as well. The other plan is to focus on health foods. Right from diabetic atta to porridge with vegetables and obesity atta, there is a whole lot of products that Kumar is focusing on. It's another thing, that he likes to keep his cards close to his chest. "There are many plans on the anvil in the health field, but I prefer to let my products talk. So, once they enter the market, consumers can decide for themselves. I don't believe in publicity."
Health, says Kumar, is a subject close to his heart. That's why he forayed into television and started a health channel by the name of Shakti channel three years back. The initial idea was to launch a kidney hospital in his father's name after he died of a kidney ailment. But his friends and family discouraged him against setting up a hospital. So, he decided to start a health channel. "The underlying idea is the same. I want people to lead healthier lives. So, I'm not looking at the channel as a profit-making venture. Instead, I want it to contribute to healthier lifestyles. So, even if one person benefits from it, I'm satisfied."
Since health is high on Kumar's agenda, he is sporty enough to acknowledge that he also needs to shed some weight. "I have set up a gym at home and try to work-out. Sweets are my weakness and I'm trying hard to curb the urge to dig into sweets," he smiles.
A normal day for Kumar begins at around 6 am. He practises yoga for about an hour from 7 am and begins his day by 9 am after he's had breakfast with his family. "Meals are times when we try and catch up. It's the time when my wife, two sons , daughter and I get time to talk about all kinds of issues. Our is a close knit family."
If there is anything that makes him as happy as the company of his family, it's his work. " I feel incomplete if I don't go to the factory, inspect the products , attend meetings, and speak to my distributors."
When somebody in
Every citizen the world’s biggest democracy(along with other people of the world) believes and support that this great prize is not meaningful if it is not awarded to Mr. Mohandas karamchand Gandhi ( Mahatma Gandhi) – who not only practiced peace doctrine throughout his life to demonstrate its effectiveness at its best but also promote the different ways( like Satyagraha and Ahimsa) of achieving it and also established a foundation for others(like Martin Luther king jr. and Nelson Mandela) to follow it .
Being an Indian living is Oslo I am always fascinated by the ‘Noble peace prize’ and always have desire to see Gandhi getting this coveted prize(even posthumously) . Recently I heard Norwegian Nobel Committee chief Ole Danbolt Mjos stated "(Mahatma) Gandhi was short-listed for the Nobel Prize five times,". In 1948 Gandhi was nominated 5th time by Nobel Prize Committee but it’s “unanimous” decision was abandoned(at the last moment) by the Gandhi's assassination in the same year.
He accepted "For the first four, majority opinion made sure he did not come by the prize. But then, at the end of 1947, the Committee finally reached a unanimous decision that, come 1948, the Indian nationalist leader would be the recipient of the prize,". But, Mjos said, as events were to turn out Gandhi was assassinated in January 1948 upsetting the Nobel Committee plan at the last moment.Nobody was conferred with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1948, the website of the Committee shows.
My question( and many other Indians as well) here is :
“Why Can’t Gandhi be deemed as qualified to be a Nobel laureate in the present world context”
His theories are omnipresent and effective in every world peace movement and actually more suitable in today’s world. The point here is that if noble committee can take a controversial decision of giving prize to former UN secretary general Dag Hammarskjoeld in 1961 then WHY CAN’T THEY TAKE SUCH DESCISION AGAIN for the person who is the biggest pioneer of word ‘PEACE’ in the 20th centaury.
In my younger days I saw a movie where Keshto Mukherjee was comparing ‘drinking alcohol’ with ‘drinking milk’ (and he was really good as usual). Considering the importance of milk in our daily life I searched the net and found that there exists a(although there are many but I am considering Indian environment and cost factor) viable ‘ecological milk’ which can be used at par with cow’s milk.
Any Guess !!!!
Yes you got it ….It is ‘Soya milk’
What is Soya Milk ?
It is produced by soaking dry soybeans, and grinding them with water.
Comparison with Cows Milk !!!
see the image attached
Why do we use it !!!
Today I used some of my time to understand the uncontroversial Indian Nuclear deal which may topple down the well stable UPA government to.The determination of Manmohan Singh Government is very good and it should go ahead.This may result in left withdrawing the support and fall of UPA government. I am sure PM won’t budge this time and will go ahead with what is more important to nation (Growth) rather than what is more important to congress( Political Power).
To come to above conclusion I tried to weigh of pros and cons of this deal and India's stand to gain a lot from this nuclear deal and still maintain sovereignty.
National Issues to solve :
Growth constraint-1 : The power shortage and future demand for power is growing exponentially. Fuel prices are breaking the life of ordinary citizen. According to the latest Ministry of Commerce statistics,
Growth constraint-2 : The India does not have enough natural resources and imports most of its oil from other countries.
Growth constraint-3 : Not enough Nuclear resources : One study says the
Political constraint-3 : Politically we need to strengthen ties with US to improve the diplomatic relationship with US. US wants to strengthen its base in South Asia by having strong relationship with
If the deal is through then :
Manmohan singh's stand shows that after a life spent in pleasing political masters, first as a bureaucrat, then as a minister, he has finally come into his own. At least as of now he is the recognized head of government and that is an opportunity he knows he will not get again. He wants to go down in history as the man who did something big: converted
