With 40 years of extensive & diversified experience at various companies and doing his part to be a game changer wherever he went, Mr Devidas Bhadange, has now started his own consultation firm, Abhishek Business Consultants. In his conversation with us, he shares his experiences, tips and tricks to realize good profits and grow your spectrum in the agricultural sector.
Mr. Bhadange, please give us a brief about yourself.
I am a very ordinary person, hailing from a rural area. I did my schooling in Osmanabad District, one of the backward districts of Maharashtra. After my schooling, I got an admission at the Agricultural College, Kolhapur and later on took an MBA, again at Kohlapur itself & completed in 1980.I also did L.L.B. & Intermediate company secretary course in part time while doing job at Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd. I then joined Hindustan Antibiotics, in 1981, a public sector undertaking. I launched about 21 products in veterinary medicines. The antibiotics used for humans can be used for animals as well. But, unfortunately, in the organization that I worked for there was no veterinary division. I took this as a challenge. I coordinated with a lot of HODs, R&Ds, scientists, the MD of the organization, etc. and queried why we couldn't have such a division. Several meetings later, within 18 months, we launched about 21 products in the veterinary division. This resulted in a turnover of 150Cr in those days.
After my stint at Hindustan Antibiotics, I joined a small dairy unit that caters to premium products - Warana Cooperative Milk producers Union Ltd , Warana Nagar, Dist. Kolhapur. During my tenure at Warana, I took up the challenge to do some value addition to farmers' in terms of milk produce. Now a days Warana Shrikhand is being sold in 5000 tonnes a year. They are a brand leader in the Dairy sweets Shrikhand category. The company had made about 9 crores in 1985. The management decided that, this profit should go to the farmers and paid Rs 1 per litre bonus to the dairy farmers who supplied milk during last financial year. Those were the days when people were alien to such profits, especially in rural areas. We made a very exclusive distribution channel for milk and milk product distribution in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and some parts of Andhra Pradesh as well. Now all dairy union in western Maharashtra are paying Rs 2-3 per lit bonus to milk producers resulting in making livelihood for small farmers. This belt is known for pure hygienic buffalo milk catering to Mumbai & Pune market.
After this success story, I was unstoppable in terms of creativity. I decided to join a bigger organization called Mahafed, with 10,000 farmer members. The major factor here was to increase oil seed production within the country to make self sufficient and save foreign exchange. We used to collect different types of oil seeds from farmers and stabilize the prices during festival season under the NDDB's operation golden flow programme through Market Intervention. I was instrumental in churning profits for this organization, which was running at a loss. We made a joint venture with the Maharashtra Cotton growers Association. We used to buy cotton seeds for them, process it and offer oil to NDDB under DHARA brand. Back then, adulteration was a major issue. Hence, we came up with a creative distribution system. We distributed our finished product edible oil back to the rural areas through our own oilseed collection societies. We applied the same theory to milk and milk products in Warana region as well.
After Mahafed, I joined Ruchi Soya, one of the popular names in this category is Nutrela Soya Chunks and granules. I used to transfer the chunks in about 40 railway wagons to Guwahati, Vijayawada and Deharadun where there was a cute shortage of vegetables specially in rainy season. So, prices used to shoot up. We put up a plant at Guwahati and started manufacturing soya chunks and granules. Here we launched 7-8 brands for each edible oil like Nutrela Soya oil, Sunrich for sunflower oil, Ruchi Gold for palmolein oil, Ruchi no 1 vanaspati created all India sales & Distribution network across epan India. Ruchi Soya became joint Indian Multinational in edible oils & fat. I served in that company for 8 years after which I went to Ahmadabad and Delhi. In Delhi, we established the Rajdhani Besan brand which is being sold up to 500 tons per day in those days and went about establishing in north up to Jammu Kashmir. The Rajdhani brand has been extended to Chana Dal & Kala chana and the sales were fantastic!
Warana called me for a second term with them and so from 2007 - 2012, I served there. It was again some remarkable work. There was a fruit processing plant of 100 ton/day. But, there were no fruits available. So, we converted the plant into a tetrapack manufacturing unit and came up with tetra pack juices under the brand name called warana JOY. We have successfully conducted trials of asceptic packing of sugar cane juice in tetra packs which has shelf life of 3 months, After 3 months that it gives a jaggery taste and hence this product was unsuccessful. But we applied for patent right of processing & packing in Tetra pack. Though the product was unsuccessful due to market demand for 6 month shelf life.
I then moved to Kohlapur and worked for Gokul Dairy very popular in milk brand in the region. Gokul milk being sold around 9 lakh litres per day in Mumbai, Pune and Kolhapur areas. In 2014, I quit Gokul and decided to do freelance work. I started my own consultancy called Abhishek Business Consultants. I am the CEO. I now provide my expertise and experience to everybody who needs it. I did some work for an organization called Baramati Agro. They wanted to come up in the dairy industry. I decided to register the brand and develop a packaging named ‘Freshious' got it packed at third party and launched it in Pune. We were successful in doing a sales of about 6000litres a day. The best part is, we haven't invested anything in terms of plant and machinery.
I am currently focusing on how to establish brands without investing in plant and machinery. In current days one has to put his time & money in establishing the brand in market After about 3 years i.e.1000 days once your brand is established, one can go for own investment in plant and machinery. This shall save your financial burden of bank loan, it’s repayment plus in these time new entrepreneurs get market in and out. So he shall be more practical in business. This is the advice I use to give to my new clients, don’t make hurry in investment, first make market survey find out the demand, make the product accordingly, enter in market, get establish in 1000days & then think of investment.
Can you talk about how one can market their products?
The first thing is entrepreneurs need to gain experience and harness it. They would have money, graduation etc. This graduation may not be even in the Agricultural sector. Whenever people come to me for advice I set up a 1:1 meeting with them. It is very important for me to understand my potential client. If nobody in the family has ever done business, I wonder how the person in front of me can run a successful venture with a bank loan etc. They won't be exposed to the business world at all. My advice to such people would be to go to the market and gain some experience. Experience is extremely crucial for you to pragmatically figure out what exactly you want to do.
For example, I have a client from overseas, he served in the UAE for about 20 years. Upon his return to India, he wanted to start a dairy business in the Konkan area of Maharashtra. He registered a start-up under the government of India. But, when he approached me, I queried how he would run his plant in the Konkan area when there is hardly any milk source there. Hence, I advised him against setting up a plant. We registered a brand named Utpan and developed a packaging. We surveyed about 8-9 dairy plants before zeroing in on one plant which was hygienically maintained. We signed an agreement with the plant owners against sharing any formula or product design that we would hand over to them.
Now, my client's focus is on how to capture the market. We have also developed an app using which consumers can order Utpan's milk and milk products. This was a novel concept. With growing production costs, MRPs in place and all those middle men, we can make profits only by thinking out of the box and working smarter. Hence, using things like apps online marketing, social media marketing etc. and building consumer-friendly distribution systems is highly recommendable. It may take time to build volume using this method. But, this is the path of evolution.
How effective are use of apps? Do they churn responses and sales?
It is evolving. People do still have a traditional mind set. But if they go1 with traditional sales methods it hits the profit quotient. Distributors know how to push products which fetches them more commission. Hence lowering the commission won’t do any good.
Can you share affordable tips on agricultural products that can easily be adopted by farmers to increase earnings?
Value addition is a process of transforming the original state of product into more valuable products. India is the highest producer in milk and grain production, globally. We produce groundnuts, rice, wheat, tea, coffee, sugar, spices and oil seeds. Having said that, only 25% of these products are getting processed in India. The size of the industry is 70 billion US dollars. In the European countries, they process their agricultural produce up to 98%. That is the reverse of what we do.
If farmers and corporates come into a partnership, we can have a win-win situation. Corporates, today, are very silent when it comes to agricultural processing. They have seen ups and downs and so are very reluctant to plunge in. Nowadays, there is some involvement like in medicinal herbs etc. Now, customer is king. The change of lifestyle has developed new opportunities. We should not look at what was going on traditionally. We have to move ahead. Need of the hour is food. That is one industry that will never face recession. Without food and water one cannot survive.
With the lifestyle changes, even simple value addition to grains is something to be looked at. We all prefer food that we have been used to from childhood. We may go in for a change once or twice a month but our daily food will be our usual staples. There is great demand for hygienic food delivered home. Farmers can tie up with agencies who do home delivery. If you can supply home cooked food and supply it to homes, it will have a massive profit today.
We are also falling short of water. We should think ahead of what we will need in the future. Analysis shows that more than 50% people are dealing with acidity problems. So it is time we think of the kind of alkaline foods we can distribute and how we can make these available. I heard of a Japanese company that sells machine to make water alkaline at the rate of 2 lakhs. They have launched their product in India as well. They are tackling the root cause of all diseases. Such thought processes are futuristic ideas.
How can we process fruits like mango and lime and even products like cashews?
The first step is to grade the produce - pricing should be based on the grade and packaging. To ensure profits, marketing is key as well. I suggest processing the stuff you are planning to sell whilst the crop matures. By the time the mangoes, for instance, begin to mature, you can process it to mango pickle, jaggeried mango, etc. Then start online marketing your product right from the time your mango matures. The first year you may face problems but by the next year if your product is good, the word of mouth itself will fetch you results. Of course, your product should be healthy and hygienic and you should attach the positive attributes about your product while marketing it. Whatever mangoes you have after selling it to customers, process the pulp - you don't even need to have your own pulping plant. There are plants all over India, whose services can be used. Also, tin your products to help extend the shelf life. You can have a shelf life of up to three years by tinning them.
Large farm owners can get in touch with multi nationals who make juices etc. You can process and pack your products as per their demand. Sterilized products are being packed and exported. Small farm owners can sell fruit pulp through retail outlets. You also come up with your own fruit juices. Tetra pack juices require a lot of capital. But, you can go for bottled juices, dried fruit etc. Products like freeze-dried mangoes are in great demand all over the world. The options are limitless. It is the same for other crops as well.
What should be the first step a farmer needs to take to transform from the old school of thought to the new school?
The first step is to communicate about your product. You must let it be known, in advance, about the products you propose to come up with. Planning is of utmost importance.
Would you advice that people start the venture in a small way first?
Yes! You must plan how many products you can make depending upon your produce output, budget, etc. Start with a few and build it - that is the way to go.
What can people do to get large orders for their products?
If your produce, for instance, is 500 tonnes of mangoes, divide the quantity to decide how much you want to promote as your own brand and how much you will sell through other sources. This is true to any form of product that you may be selling. Divide your produce for building your brand value and your cash flow. You can increase the produce going to your brand value slowly. With quality produce, you can ensure selling all your produce on your own within about 3 years’ time. If go about things carefully and meticulously, in the long run, you will not need any middle men to sell your product.
Having said that, even at that stage, one should not stop thinking big. When you are on top, attract co-farmers and lead them. Propose to take up and market 50% of their crops. That is the way to target the export market. Don't ever stop growing. A farmer has the potential to become a huge entrepreneur. There is so much you can do for yourself and for other farmers around you. Also, we should never stop sharing knowledge. There is immense growth potential when we share knowledge.
Mr. Bhadange, any last thoughts before we wrap up?
I think agriculture is an emerging sector. People should focus on IT in agriculture. Post-harvest management will turn out to be a huge section within this sector. Food product marketing has great scope. You don’t have to have a farm for such things. Propose to market for people. Agri-extension is highly important. Consulting and knowledge-based activities are on the boom. Biotechnological technology research and commercialization is a booming sector. Other promising sectors are corporate farming and rural-agri food supply chain. Entrepreneurs should concentrate on these sectors and they are bound to do a remarkable job.
Mr. Bhadange, please give us a brief about yourself.
I am a very ordinary person, hailing from a rural area. I did my schooling in Osmanabad District, one of the backward districts of Maharashtra. After my schooling, I got an admission at the Agricultural College, Kolhapur and later on took an MBA, again at Kohlapur itself & completed in 1980.I also did L.L.B. & Intermediate company secretary course in part time while doing job at Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd. I then joined Hindustan Antibiotics, in 1981, a public sector undertaking. I launched about 21 products in veterinary medicines. The antibiotics used for humans can be used for animals as well. But, unfortunately, in the organization that I worked for there was no veterinary division. I took this as a challenge. I coordinated with a lot of HODs, R&Ds, scientists, the MD of the organization, etc. and queried why we couldn't have such a division. Several meetings later, within 18 months, we launched about 21 products in the veterinary division. This resulted in a turnover of 150Cr in those days.
After my stint at Hindustan Antibiotics, I joined a small dairy unit that caters to premium products - Warana Cooperative Milk producers Union Ltd , Warana Nagar, Dist. Kolhapur. During my tenure at Warana, I took up the challenge to do some value addition to farmers' in terms of milk produce. Now a days Warana Shrikhand is being sold in 5000 tonnes a year. They are a brand leader in the Dairy sweets Shrikhand category. The company had made about 9 crores in 1985. The management decided that, this profit should go to the farmers and paid Rs 1 per litre bonus to the dairy farmers who supplied milk during last financial year. Those were the days when people were alien to such profits, especially in rural areas. We made a very exclusive distribution channel for milk and milk product distribution in Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and some parts of Andhra Pradesh as well. Now all dairy union in western Maharashtra are paying Rs 2-3 per lit bonus to milk producers resulting in making livelihood for small farmers. This belt is known for pure hygienic buffalo milk catering to Mumbai & Pune market.
After this success story, I was unstoppable in terms of creativity. I decided to join a bigger organization called Mahafed, with 10,000 farmer members. The major factor here was to increase oil seed production within the country to make self sufficient and save foreign exchange. We used to collect different types of oil seeds from farmers and stabilize the prices during festival season under the NDDB's operation golden flow programme through Market Intervention. I was instrumental in churning profits for this organization, which was running at a loss. We made a joint venture with the Maharashtra Cotton growers Association. We used to buy cotton seeds for them, process it and offer oil to NDDB under DHARA brand. Back then, adulteration was a major issue. Hence, we came up with a creative distribution system. We distributed our finished product edible oil back to the rural areas through our own oilseed collection societies. We applied the same theory to milk and milk products in Warana region as well.
After Mahafed, I joined Ruchi Soya, one of the popular names in this category is Nutrela Soya Chunks and granules. I used to transfer the chunks in about 40 railway wagons to Guwahati, Vijayawada and Deharadun where there was a cute shortage of vegetables specially in rainy season. So, prices used to shoot up. We put up a plant at Guwahati and started manufacturing soya chunks and granules. Here we launched 7-8 brands for each edible oil like Nutrela Soya oil, Sunrich for sunflower oil, Ruchi Gold for palmolein oil, Ruchi no 1 vanaspati created all India sales & Distribution network across epan India. Ruchi Soya became joint Indian Multinational in edible oils & fat. I served in that company for 8 years after which I went to Ahmadabad and Delhi. In Delhi, we established the Rajdhani Besan brand which is being sold up to 500 tons per day in those days and went about establishing in north up to Jammu Kashmir. The Rajdhani brand has been extended to Chana Dal & Kala chana and the sales were fantastic!
Warana called me for a second term with them and so from 2007 - 2012, I served there. It was again some remarkable work. There was a fruit processing plant of 100 ton/day. But, there were no fruits available. So, we converted the plant into a tetrapack manufacturing unit and came up with tetra pack juices under the brand name called warana JOY. We have successfully conducted trials of asceptic packing of sugar cane juice in tetra packs which has shelf life of 3 months, After 3 months that it gives a jaggery taste and hence this product was unsuccessful. But we applied for patent right of processing & packing in Tetra pack. Though the product was unsuccessful due to market demand for 6 month shelf life.
I then moved to Kohlapur and worked for Gokul Dairy very popular in milk brand in the region. Gokul milk being sold around 9 lakh litres per day in Mumbai, Pune and Kolhapur areas. In 2014, I quit Gokul and decided to do freelance work. I started my own consultancy called Abhishek Business Consultants. I am the CEO. I now provide my expertise and experience to everybody who needs it. I did some work for an organization called Baramati Agro. They wanted to come up in the dairy industry. I decided to register the brand and develop a packaging named ‘Freshious' got it packed at third party and launched it in Pune. We were successful in doing a sales of about 6000litres a day. The best part is, we haven't invested anything in terms of plant and machinery.
I am currently focusing on how to establish brands without investing in plant and machinery. In current days one has to put his time & money in establishing the brand in market After about 3 years i.e.1000 days once your brand is established, one can go for own investment in plant and machinery. This shall save your financial burden of bank loan, it’s repayment plus in these time new entrepreneurs get market in and out. So he shall be more practical in business. This is the advice I use to give to my new clients, don’t make hurry in investment, first make market survey find out the demand, make the product accordingly, enter in market, get establish in 1000days & then think of investment.
Can you talk about how one can market their products?
The first thing is entrepreneurs need to gain experience and harness it. They would have money, graduation etc. This graduation may not be even in the Agricultural sector. Whenever people come to me for advice I set up a 1:1 meeting with them. It is very important for me to understand my potential client. If nobody in the family has ever done business, I wonder how the person in front of me can run a successful venture with a bank loan etc. They won't be exposed to the business world at all. My advice to such people would be to go to the market and gain some experience. Experience is extremely crucial for you to pragmatically figure out what exactly you want to do.
For example, I have a client from overseas, he served in the UAE for about 20 years. Upon his return to India, he wanted to start a dairy business in the Konkan area of Maharashtra. He registered a start-up under the government of India. But, when he approached me, I queried how he would run his plant in the Konkan area when there is hardly any milk source there. Hence, I advised him against setting up a plant. We registered a brand named Utpan and developed a packaging. We surveyed about 8-9 dairy plants before zeroing in on one plant which was hygienically maintained. We signed an agreement with the plant owners against sharing any formula or product design that we would hand over to them.
Now, my client's focus is on how to capture the market. We have also developed an app using which consumers can order Utpan's milk and milk products. This was a novel concept. With growing production costs, MRPs in place and all those middle men, we can make profits only by thinking out of the box and working smarter. Hence, using things like apps online marketing, social media marketing etc. and building consumer-friendly distribution systems is highly recommendable. It may take time to build volume using this method. But, this is the path of evolution.
How effective are use of apps? Do they churn responses and sales?
It is evolving. People do still have a traditional mind set. But if they go1 with traditional sales methods it hits the profit quotient. Distributors know how to push products which fetches them more commission. Hence lowering the commission won’t do any good.
Can you share affordable tips on agricultural products that can easily be adopted by farmers to increase earnings?
Value addition is a process of transforming the original state of product into more valuable products. India is the highest producer in milk and grain production, globally. We produce groundnuts, rice, wheat, tea, coffee, sugar, spices and oil seeds. Having said that, only 25% of these products are getting processed in India. The size of the industry is 70 billion US dollars. In the European countries, they process their agricultural produce up to 98%. That is the reverse of what we do.
If farmers and corporates come into a partnership, we can have a win-win situation. Corporates, today, are very silent when it comes to agricultural processing. They have seen ups and downs and so are very reluctant to plunge in. Nowadays, there is some involvement like in medicinal herbs etc. Now, customer is king. The change of lifestyle has developed new opportunities. We should not look at what was going on traditionally. We have to move ahead. Need of the hour is food. That is one industry that will never face recession. Without food and water one cannot survive.
With the lifestyle changes, even simple value addition to grains is something to be looked at. We all prefer food that we have been used to from childhood. We may go in for a change once or twice a month but our daily food will be our usual staples. There is great demand for hygienic food delivered home. Farmers can tie up with agencies who do home delivery. If you can supply home cooked food and supply it to homes, it will have a massive profit today.
We are also falling short of water. We should think ahead of what we will need in the future. Analysis shows that more than 50% people are dealing with acidity problems. So it is time we think of the kind of alkaline foods we can distribute and how we can make these available. I heard of a Japanese company that sells machine to make water alkaline at the rate of 2 lakhs. They have launched their product in India as well. They are tackling the root cause of all diseases. Such thought processes are futuristic ideas.
How can we process fruits like mango and lime and even products like cashews?
The first step is to grade the produce - pricing should be based on the grade and packaging. To ensure profits, marketing is key as well. I suggest processing the stuff you are planning to sell whilst the crop matures. By the time the mangoes, for instance, begin to mature, you can process it to mango pickle, jaggeried mango, etc. Then start online marketing your product right from the time your mango matures. The first year you may face problems but by the next year if your product is good, the word of mouth itself will fetch you results. Of course, your product should be healthy and hygienic and you should attach the positive attributes about your product while marketing it. Whatever mangoes you have after selling it to customers, process the pulp - you don't even need to have your own pulping plant. There are plants all over India, whose services can be used. Also, tin your products to help extend the shelf life. You can have a shelf life of up to three years by tinning them.
Large farm owners can get in touch with multi nationals who make juices etc. You can process and pack your products as per their demand. Sterilized products are being packed and exported. Small farm owners can sell fruit pulp through retail outlets. You also come up with your own fruit juices. Tetra pack juices require a lot of capital. But, you can go for bottled juices, dried fruit etc. Products like freeze-dried mangoes are in great demand all over the world. The options are limitless. It is the same for other crops as well.
What should be the first step a farmer needs to take to transform from the old school of thought to the new school?
The first step is to communicate about your product. You must let it be known, in advance, about the products you propose to come up with. Planning is of utmost importance.
Would you advice that people start the venture in a small way first?
Yes! You must plan how many products you can make depending upon your produce output, budget, etc. Start with a few and build it - that is the way to go.
What can people do to get large orders for their products?
If your produce, for instance, is 500 tonnes of mangoes, divide the quantity to decide how much you want to promote as your own brand and how much you will sell through other sources. This is true to any form of product that you may be selling. Divide your produce for building your brand value and your cash flow. You can increase the produce going to your brand value slowly. With quality produce, you can ensure selling all your produce on your own within about 3 years’ time. If go about things carefully and meticulously, in the long run, you will not need any middle men to sell your product.
Having said that, even at that stage, one should not stop thinking big. When you are on top, attract co-farmers and lead them. Propose to take up and market 50% of their crops. That is the way to target the export market. Don't ever stop growing. A farmer has the potential to become a huge entrepreneur. There is so much you can do for yourself and for other farmers around you. Also, we should never stop sharing knowledge. There is immense growth potential when we share knowledge.
Mr. Bhadange, any last thoughts before we wrap up?
I think agriculture is an emerging sector. People should focus on IT in agriculture. Post-harvest management will turn out to be a huge section within this sector. Food product marketing has great scope. You don’t have to have a farm for such things. Propose to market for people. Agri-extension is highly important. Consulting and knowledge-based activities are on the boom. Biotechnological technology research and commercialization is a booming sector. Other promising sectors are corporate farming and rural-agri food supply chain. Entrepreneurs should concentrate on these sectors and they are bound to do a remarkable job.
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