Whatever We Do, We Do It Our BEST!

Vinay Gargate (Proprietor)

Meeting Mr. Vinay Gargate, one does get a feeling that deep within the average Maharashtrian “Manoos,” there does lie an entrepreneur of immense potential! It’s just that the fire within ought to be stoked from time to time with generous helpings of perseverance. Destiny too seems to play a part!

Soham Udyog, the Gargate family’s prized jewel which today is being headed by Mr. Vinay Gargate has its share of history behind it, a history which speaks of a family of five, mother, father and three siblings who put their complete faith in hard-work, intelligence and an unwavering conviction to quality. The result is for the world to see!
Known for her skills in making tasty traditional Maharashtrian dishes including papads, laddoos, and ragi-derived products as far back as 1981, Mr. Vinay Gargate’s mother, Mrs. Sushila was known for her ability to experiment with foods to form great mixes and matches such that one had to lick fingers and ask for more!

The presence of willing acquaintances, including close relations, saw her make, stock, and sell directly to consumers at various exhibitions, including those at Pune’s famed Tilak Smarak Mandir, where she was a regular during Ganapati, Diwali, and other times. Back then, their home near Pune’s Karve Road served as their production centre with one room being dedicated entirely to stock their produce!

As for Mr. Vinay Gargate, the youngest and most restless (he had 3-4 successful businesses while still at school!) member of the family, he would tag along to help with chores, run errands, and be there when most needed. Being close to food production at a tender age, he discovered his interest in developing recipes, mixing and matching foods to come up with interesting products, and making elaborate plans to sell them.

A chance meeting with a Pune-based stockist saw their products reach a larger audience. But as luck would have it, the stockist went out of business leaving the Gargate family with a bungalow full of unsold stocks! Painful though it was, the experience taught the family essentials of pricing things right, keeping margins, branding, labeling, packaging, etc.and the need to sell directly to retailers. Mr. Vinay Gargatethen took it upon himself to take his produce from shop to shop near their home. His mother’s relentless focus on quality won the day with almost all shop-keepers (numbering close to 100!) agreeing to stock their produce. And WHAT A SALE! They managed to clear all their stocks in JUST A WEEK!

“Soham” their brand-name came about at this juncture. Something else happened. The shop-keepers came back asking for more besides requesting variations in potato pappads, rice pappads, and the likes. It was then that they introduced besides other favourites, their killer product, the famous “potato tiklipappads”!

The mid-80s saw their reach expand to Mumbai with additions to their product portfolio, including their famous Ragimalt followed by sattuatta, wheat extracts, and wheat malt. Help from relations and weekend trips to Mumbai sufficed. His graduation over, Mr. Vinay immersed himself fully into the business and took steps to formalize their enterprise, its production, sales, and branding activities, and helped establish their presence in places like Nagar, Nashik and Latur.

The new millennium brought its share of changes with Mr. Vinay’s wife, Mrs.Harshaljoining him after leaving her job at a Bank. Production shifted to a new premise that saw the addition of a unique product, the “Urid PapadLatti,” which despite being made only against confirmed orders, found a rock-solid response.

With an army of 20 workers, the Gargates went full throttle into production with an order from Singapore in 2005, heralding their presence outside the country. Though small and infrequently, this marked their presence abroad.

The year 2007 saw several chances. Soham Udyog’s production shifted to its premise of 6000 sq ft spread over two floors at KhedShivapur, a distant suburb of Pune. “Mumbai Grahak Panchayat” an entity of immense repute in Mumbai, which supplied select items of daily-need directly to 35000 consumers at fair prices, became their distributors! And most of all, Rajgira (technically “Amaranth”, “Ramdana” for the rest of India) was introduced to consumers in a chic and interesting biscuits format. Equally crispy and tasty, it was a welcome change from the staid old “laadoos and vadis”!

By the end of the 2000s, Soham Udyog, as a brand, had a portfolio of 35 distinct products. To gain stability, a long-pending decision to move away from goodies and snacks into daily-needs items like flours of various kinds, was taken. A wellthought-out move, it had the backing of extensive research and the family’s own experiences with foods over the past two decades.

Forever keen to know what a good product means, they developed processes which to this day helps supply the best of flours to their consumers. What started with 10-20 odd shops with an initial stock of 8 tons of wheat has today shot up to 500 shops with a monthly off-take of an astounding 120 tons! Back then, wheat from MP was supplied to them in normal open trucks. Today, it comes in customized, closed-bodied vehicles!

Ever hopeful of catering to newer markets, Mr. Vinay carried along samples of Soham’s wheat-flour and other items on an MCCIA-assistedtrip to London in March 2010. Getting a favourable response from their existing clients who knew of Soham, the dealer promptly visited Soham Udyog and carried back a ton of atta! Along with it went Soham’s other products, all of which expectedlygot a healthy response!

In the same year, Mr. Vinay’s friend in Dubai requested for Maharashtrian-specific flours and mixes. Weighing close to a ton, it became a HIT with the star item being the “atta” the likes of which people had never consumed in Dubai. Orders these days are very regular and of a large quantity!

The year 2012 saw Soham Udyog stop direct deliveries to retailers and instead appoint distributors. A strategic step of immense significance, it allowed Mr. Vinay and his team to concentrate on product and market development within India and abroad. This model of working was replicated across markets, be it in Mumbai, Dubai, Singapore, Switzerland or even the Netherlands.

In the year 2017, Soham’s UK-based distributors shifted to the US giving the former accesses to a hitherto barely tapped market of huge potential! With a US FDA certification under its belt, Soham Udyog’s exports have extended further to include 8 to 9 countries, including Australia!

The year 2019 has seen Soham Udyog consolidate its position in Dubai while working with the likes of Masala King and Al Adil, where their atta remains their star product. It also keeps them in consumer’s memory for a long time.

Quiz the gent on his products’ USP and pat comes this reply, “use the best to produce the best such that a consumer HAS to come back to you ALWAYS! There is never a thought to develop a second product in case the first does not work. Produce it once and make it a HIT! As for prices, show its worth, and the consumer won’t mind spending more for quality that remains consistent.”

For the same, they commissioned an extensive and exhaustive study of the kinds of wheat available in India, areas under cultivation, and the best way to supply their atta to consumers so that breads and rotis stay fresh and edible for more than a day. Basis this study, they now procure Lokwan, also called Sharbati, directly from its source or the nearest and most prominent markets for further processing at their plant.
Research & Development at their plant at Khed Shivapur remains an essential at Soham Udyog and is today actively assisted by Gen Y consisting of Mr. Vinay’s sons, the elder of whom, Mr. Shardul, a Mechanical Engineer with an MS in Industrial Engineering from the US, looks after production processes.

He reasons that success came to them right from the time of his mother due to their relentless focus on high quality irrespective of costs and circumstances. Clients of Sohum Udyog are made to feel the difference. And they never, ever leave! They, in fact, get them more business!

Soham Udyog is known for its food-related experimentations right from the days of Mrs. Sushila, which continues into the present with Mr. Shardul keen to re-engineer processes at Soham such that product quality becomes better along with efficient usage of materials and machinery.

Quality being the cornerstone for all that Soham Udyog stands for, they are in the process of getting prestigious certifications, including HACCP & ISO 22000 for food production and exports worldwide, and the same is likely to be completed shortly. In any case, they do have USFDA certification of the US.

His eyes light up when he remembers his clients and how they made Soham Udyog what it is today!

There are those among his consumers who demand Soham’s range of products to be made available at their nearest kirana stores, and are known to wait or even change over to rice instead of procuring from competition!

Some, like a gentleman in Nashik stocks much, much more than normally needed to obviate stock-outs! And then there are those who, arriving from abroad, first call up Soham to ask for their atta to be made available in their towns besides enquiring if the quality remains the same!

In the UK, over-stocking is quite common, as are queues at Soham’s stockists in Dubai!
The US being a market still being discovered and developed, a lady from Mumbai sends Soham atta by courier to places as far apart as Newark and California to her sons.
If the US seems far, sample this of a consumer in Chennai who asked the stockist to stock 50% extra so that they have a steady supply of their favorite atta!

The future at Soham Udyog would include besides Maharashtrian delicacies and flours of various kinds, a range of diet products specifically meant for the health-conscious which they plan only to produce leaving the marketing to others.

Soham, as a brand, would be available all over the country besides ten significant markets abroad including the entire US. Outside India, it shall continue through distributors who shall sell the products under Soham’s brand name.

They plan to construct an additional 20000 sq ft of space near their existing facility on 50000 sq ft which Mr. Vinay says would suffice them for some time. It is expected that in the next five years, Soham Udyog’s Gen Y would take over and bring about far-reaching changes, some of which may not be envisaged in the present. As early as 2020, a team of professionals headed by Mr. Shardul shall take independent charge in decisions pertaining to marketing and growth strategies. Added to this would be a complete change in product packaging. With ten of their fifty products having undergone a complete overhaul of their packing and the rest in the process, the entire marketing and sales shall see a radical shift under the new dispensation who shall independently build and implement strategies for maximum growth.

Mr. Vinay’s younger son, Mr. Sharvil,a graduate of commerce, is set to join Soham and be part of the new set-up. Being close to Mr. Vinay when the latter went about developing Soham and its products, the latter has exemplary knowledge of Soham Udyog’s accounts. Additionally, he also looks into liaison with govt bodies including matters related to taxes and GST.

Mr. Vinay is justifiably proud of Soham Udyog’s immense success, and one of the reasons he surmises is the open, transparent, and healthy work culture where people can air views on official and personal matters before him and the family. With their numbers close to a hundred, employees at Soham Udyog are well taken care of with handsome salaries besides all the facilities and perks prescribed by law such as PF, ESIC, Gratuity,to name a few. Besides, they get a patient hearing for all their problems and issues from none other than Mrs. Harshal, who heads general administration at Soham. Employing the right talent remains uppermost on their minds though exact numbers may be difficult to express any time soon.

Finance being the lifeblood of any organization, Soham Udyog is no different, with the present needs being taken care of through internal accruals and bank finances. Their Bankers are justifiably quite happy with them. External financing is not on the cards as of now though growth might bring that into focus.
Press them on what their greatest obstacles were in the last one year, and Mr. Vinay puts it down to nothing more than one’s thoughts of growth. Nothing beyond- a far cry from others who see everything from population to policies as a hindrance!

With a glint of pride in their achievements, Mr. Vinay belts out recognition after recognition which include the Economic Times adjudging them the best brand award for 2019-2020, the Best businessman Award at the hands of from Ex-President Pratibhatai Patil in 2018, figuring in his alumnus, the Symbiosis Institute’s publication which featured their top 20 ex-alumni. He was also awarded on the occasion.

A Mumbai-based publisher’s feature on eighteen (18) of Maharashtra’s best self-made entrepreneurs featured him. The recognition came about due to the suggestion to the publishers by Soham’s distributors in the UK. The publishers even brought out a book on Mr. Vinay and Soham.

His business-mantra for growth and prosperity is NEVER to believe in the word “slowdown”. Looking around is the only way to see opportunities for growth. If they don’t seem visible despite the best of efforts, it could be time to change strategies. That

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