Family values
Tradition is an important aspect that links today’s generation to our history. In India, eating and exchanging sweets is not just an activity but an important social tradition. So, our objective of producing traditional sweets is to primarily help keep our country’s history and tradition alive, through food.
Honesty, freedom, faith, patience, integrity, strong work ethics, and the value of being selfless form the foundation of our family business. These beliefs and behaviours are passed down from one generation to the other. Our main focus is to provide a feeling of warmth to our consumers. We strive to be a part of the important moments of their lives by being a part of festivals, weddings, and other celebrations by creating sweet memories. We provide high-quality and hygienic food products that consumers can buy for their families, with a sense of satisfaction and assured safety. Empathy and the spirit of teamwork is another prominent value that ensures satisfaction and loyalty of our employees and enables the smooth functioning of our business. Values begin at home and these values have positively directed us to achieve a successful business.
Working Hand-in-Hand
The main advantage of having my spouse working with us is that we mutually understand the highs and lows of the business. We are aligned to work in the same direction, cheer each other up, and provide moral support. We live our dreams and passions together and share common goals and interests.
We work in collaboration and face myriad challenges jointly, which is very crucial for running the business successfully. Working cooperatively also enables easy fluctuation between our family and work lives and so, it becomes easier to strike a balance between the two.
The Changing Perception of Young Generation
In today’s business world, there is a boom of start-ups by young entrepreneurs. Youth form the main driving force of the consumer market by being involved in both the ends of the business i.e., in entrepreneurship and consumption.
Although it is true that mithai, namkeen, and snack business in India is mostly dominated by traditional business families, we must accept that the business is being passed down to young people of the family who have ingenious and creative ideas, with the power to transform these businesses.
Nowadays, food products are being made to suit the demands and requirements of all age groups. For example, Spirulina Chikki was introduced with technical know-how from CFTRI, Mysore to boost immunity during the COVID times. So, I think the youth is being able to create an impact in our industry by generating innovative approaches to the conventional methods of preparing sweets/namkeen/snacks in order to create health-centric variations, keeping in mind the growing health awareness and satiate the craving for variety, while simultaneously focusing on retaining the traditional aspect as well. Today’s generation is conscious of the latest business trends and market situations and hence, they are well prepared for combating challenges in the future.
The Role of Modern technologies & Automation
One has to appreciate the use of modern technology and automation to successfully sustain in ever-changing markets. However, unlike the bakery and namkeen sector, automated machines for sweets are in a nascent stage. These machines which are either imported from other countries or assembled in our country are overpriced.
Therefore, it is not very feasible to procure these machines. In our company, the manufacturing and processing of food products are semi-mechanized in nature. We use metal detectors to keep our food safe from contamination. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, we have installed UV equipment for disinfection to provide safe and hygienic food products. We are also planning to install viable automated machines in our manufacturing units. We have also adopted the latest quality management and user-friendly software systems in line with our commitment to digitize our operations to enable us to work more efficiently, sustainably, and ensure consistent quality.
Lockdown consequences
The obvious thing to be learned from the COVID-19 lockdown is the uncertainty of life and business. We realized that sudden events can hamper our entire business routine. However, it is imperative to bounce back and keep growing. The food industry formulates an essential part of consumers’ lives. Thus, we had to instantly adapt to the changing environment and ensure the smooth running of the business without affecting the health and safety of our employees and customers. We initiated training sessions and implemented all preventive guidelines to remain precautious as well as to keep functioning. Kanti Sweets is the first organization in India to have undergone the Workplace assessment for Safety and Hygiene (WASH) the scheme by the Quality Council of India, to assess its preparedness to restart and run operations safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this pandemic, we realized the importance of flexibility in functioning and adaptability in processes to stabilize ourselves against the changing external situations.
Growth This Diwali and Sale of Gift Hampers
During Diwali, we provide pre-packed assorted sweets and savouries of all ranges, so that consumers can purchase these food products according to their feasibility. We offer pre-packed biscuits such as Badam, Cashew, Pista, and Choco Sticks. We also provide decorative gift boxes with an exciting variety of dry fruits and nuts. As we all know that a considerable number of people are working from home now, our corporate customers require us to deliver these food products to their business associates, clients, and employees residing in different destinations across India.
They are inclined to purchase sweets having a high shelf life such as Kaju and Dry fruit-based sweets. Keeping bulk orders in mind, we have also introduced the “Voucher system” to ensure the safety of our employees and customers, so that there would be no reason to hold back from buying and exchanging sweets and savouries during this festive season.
The system of providing physical or E-vouchers would enable customers to avail of our food products as well as focus on their safety and convenience. As a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are experiencing a change in the demand pattern of our corporate customers and simultaneously expecting exponential growth.