AN ENTREPRENEUR WHO DOES “KARAMAT” WITH HIS MIXES! By: KHATIBAH REHMAT.
To all the valued readers of REFT Today, we are here with an outstanding story of an entrepreneur Mr. Swetal Padhiyar who has promised to give ease to cooking and almost no wastage in the kitchen. So what are you people waiting for? It’s high time to get drooled with ready to cook mixes and get a ‘KARAMAT’ in your changeover taste. Let’s now read what Mr. Swetal Padhiyar will say in his words.
1) Who were you before being an entrepreneur? (Starting from your name, birthplace, education and family in detail).
SWETAL PADHIYAR: My name is Mr. Swetal Padhiyar and was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. I have a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering and Masters in Business Administration from the University of California (USA). We are a family owned business which was started by my father and uncle. The company name is Food Solution India Limited and brand Name is KARAMAT.
2) When did it come into your mind to make something like this? A ready to cook gravy. Also, were you ever recognised for your outstanding work (rewards/awards)?
SWETAL PADHIYAR: After serving to food service industry for almost 30 years, we could see that there were a lot of challenges faced by the chefs and restaurant owners. So, that was when we thought of working on addressing these issues and providing a solution with our ready to cook range of products. There are multiple problems that Karamat products cater to; such as, from operations to procurement, food cost management, kitchen hygiene and many more that are solved with our products. But, most importantly Karamat products are of great help. It mainly saves food wastage, which I think is the burning challenge for the world today and is constantly increasing day by day.
A piece of food waste is not that small, it includes hard work, time, efforts and money that goes from planting a crop by the farmer to the way up through manufacturing, supply chain till the last step when that food comes into ones plate, all that goes into waste. So personally, even a bit of food waste has always been a heart burning issue for me. I hope with Karamat products I will surely do my part in reducing food wastage to a greater extent for the wellbeing of the plane and human race in general.
3) How many hotel or restaurants in India are there who are using Karamat mixes? Can you please name them?
SWETAL PADHIYAR: Presently we have around 3000 loyal customers who have been consistently using Karamat products world wide. These customers range from single stand alone food joints to MNCs where thousands of meals are served on daily basis. Also from several 5 Star restaurant’s categories, we have nearly 20 well known nationalised restaurant and hotel brands with multiple chains using Karmat Products.
4) What are your future endeavours for Karamat spices? What all products you are planning to launch?
SWETAL PADHIYAR: Recently there have been a lot of new developments at Karamat. So for this year we will be coming with a good range of regional gravies from all regions of india. We have already expanded our offering in ‘Dessert Mixes’, and are also planning to come up with some products for ‘Asian and Chinese cuisines’, and some more international cuisines as well, which had not been a part of Karamat basket so far.
5) Any message you want to give to young entrepreneurs who do a start-up but fail while facing few issues that come on their path?
SWETAL PADHIYAR: I would complete my words in short that, consistency and constant innovations are the key to success factors in any field you may be working upon. Also, don’t be in a rush to become rich in sometime. Success needs time! Remember, if one has sown a seed then they have to water it time to time, then only it will turn into a huge tree. Likewise is our lives where we have to nurture it with patience and hard work.
INTERVIEWED and Picture Courtesy: Mr. SWETAL PADHIYAR.
Interview taken by: KHATIBAH REHMAT (Senior Journalist).
