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“We sell on an average 3000 kg bakarwadi every day”
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Thursday, 20 February, 2014, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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fiogf49gjkf0d  Chitale Bandhu, one of the largest Maharashtra-based manufacturers and sellers of sweets and savouries, are having their main manufacturing facilities and sales shops and franchisees in and around Pune. In an email interview with Abhitash Singh, Sanjay Chitale, one of the partners of Chitale Bandhu, tells about the company, equipment, products, sales and more. Excerpts:
Tell us about your contribution to the food processing industry in Maharashtra.
We have always been at the forefront when it comes to innovating manufacturing processes using machinery and automation. This has led to development of many local manufacturers of quality machines, which other manufacturers use as well. We share our developments with other manufacturers, which is promoting the entire Indian sweets and snacks industry. Apart from this, we are actively involved in the functioning of the Mithai and Farsan Association of India. Late N B Chitale was one of the founders of NAFARI laboratory, which is one of the most advanced food testing laboratory in India. It is also involved in helping upcoming entrepreneurs develop their products and set up manufacturing units in association with the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture. Promoting Good Manufacturing Practices has led to awareness amongst all the manufacturers.
Tell us about the USP of bakarwadi, one of your popular savoury offerings.
Bakarwadi is actually a Gujarati snack that was first seen by R B Chitale and N B Chitale in 1976. They were impressed by the form of the product. After modifying that product to suit the Maharashtrian taste, it was a runaway success. To keep up with the demand, N B Chitale felt the need to automate the entire process. Today, there are two dedicated fully automated lines manufacturing bakarwadi. These lines are fully customised state-of-the-art machines having Dutch and German machinery with no hand touch involved. It took more than four years in R&D to make these fully customised lines. But now we are reaping the rewards for the time invested.
Which are the countries where your food products are exported?
The United Kingdom, United States of America, the Middle-East, Singapore, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
How many franchisees do you have in Pune? Is there any plan to increase the number of franchisees all over the country?
At the moment, there are 12 franchisees active in Pune. In the next two months, this figure will go to 14. Also, a retail outlet is present in Mumbai. We are upgrading our processes so that our products will be available in larger quantities in the modern retail outlets that are opening across the country.
What type of equipment are being used by you for manufacturing food products. Are they manufactured indigenously or sourced from international market?
We have a mix of machinery. A lot of our equipment are from Holland, Germany, Italy, Japan and Brazil. Apart from that, we have been able to develop good machinery manufacturers in India as well who can comply with the international quality levels required for manufacturing food products.
In a day, how many bakarwadis are sold?
We sell on an average 3,000 kg of bakarwadi every day.
Tell us about quality.
Strong emphasis on Good Manufacturing Practices, using the best quality raw material, automation and good systems have been important for delivering the same quality every time and satisfying customer aspirations. For example, we always use groundnut refined oil for our fried products. Though much expensive than palm oil that is used conventionally, it leads to a big improvement in the product quality. All our manufacturing units comply the ISO22000, HACCP and USFDA requirements. This naturally results in good quality.
We also make it a point to use the same raw materials at our homes. Apart from this, we randomly eat every product we manufacture. It is wrong to sell a food product to a customer if you cannot eat it yourself and feel unsatisfied about it.
What has been the effect of inflation?
It has resulted in marginal increase in product costs. But it has not affected the business massively.
Tell us about your achievements.
We have been successful in implanting world class manufacturing standards like ISO22000 across our manufacturing units. They are able to match any international standard. This I feel is our biggest achievement. Other than that, we recently won the Food Award for sixth year in a row.
Where do you see your company after five years?
A stronger presence in the domestic as well as international markets is what we expect to achieve. Increasing the number of markets we are present in and catering to modern retail FMCG demands are our targets. We believe in organic growth of our company and are in turn taking strategic decisions to match the same.
Since the cost of all essential raw materials is rising, how is your company coping with the same?
Due to a lot of automation, our efficiency of manufacturing products is on the higher side. Thus, it has automatically resulted in cost optimisation. This apart, still, there has been some increase in the processing cost, which has ultimately been transferred to the customer.
Tell us about your manufacturing units and their capacities.
We are currently having 1. Chitale Sweets and Snacks Pvt. Ltd – 3 units;
2. Shrikrishna Food Industries – 1 unit; 3. Chitale Bandhu Mithaiwale, Shivapur – 1 unit.
Tell us about the competition.
There is a tough competition in the market, particularly in the packaged products FMCG market. Due to this, profit margins have been tight. Competition though is always necessary as it keeps us on our toes and challenges us to innovate.
Apart from NRIs, do foreigners go for your products?
Yes, especially, the Europeans.
Give us your views on the FSS Act.
It is very beneficial for the organised sector of food processing. But, there is a lack of awareness, willingness and absence of infrastructure that is causing the unorganised manufacturing sector to shy away from implementing it effectively. Unfortunately, there are more unorganised manufacturers in India, which lead to a major sector adhering to its rules.
Tell us in brief about your company.
It was established in 1950 by R B Chitale as an extension business to the dairy business that his father late B G Chitale had established in 1938. His younger brother late N BChitale joined the business in 1954. Chitale Bandhu is now in its 63rd year of operation with 14 retail outlets in Pune and more than 250 dealers across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat along with international presence in the UK,USA, the Middle-East, South-East Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Today, the business is being actively looked after by Madhav R Chitale, Shrikrishna R Chitale, Govind (Sanjay) N Chitale, Kedar S Chitale and Indraneel G Chitale, which form the third and fourth generation of the family.
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