Surendra Ray & Co.

Previously, we contacted buyers, but due to IndiaMART.com it is now buyers who approach us.

Mr. Dinesh V Kamdar (Partner)
Surendra Ray & Co.
Mumbai, 25th July 2012

Surendra Ray and Co Spices up its Export Business Story

Surendra Ray and Co, a premier name in supply and exports of spices, was started by Partner, Mr Dinesh Kamdar’s father in 1945. The company started with barely 2-3 people and had a presence in the producing centres of Andhra Pradesh for spices like chilli and turmeric. Similarly, it was present in many parts of India where spices were produced, and was thus able to get the best spices at the best price. Moreover, this model allowed them to control their quality. Since the price of spices was low, in 1945, the company’s turnover was hardly Rs 10-20 lakhs. Back then, exporting spices was difficult due to the lack of communication, which took place solely through phone, telegrams and letters. But with immense interest from export markets, the business made significant inroads in North African, South Asian and Middle Eastern markets. The business and brand considerably developed abroad and earned valuable repute overseas as well as in local markets.

A twist in the tale
Mr Dinesh Kamdar joined the ancestral business in 1978 on returning from USA after completing his engineering. In his initial time, the number of exporters as well as international competition had increased and spices were becoming expensive. He started travelling the world to meet buyers and tap market trends. “I started frequenting supermarkets there to see the buying scenario,” explained Mr Kamdar. By understating the needs of foreign buyers, the company was able to develop several items in different variants and packing. But extensive travelling soon became impractical. Mr Kamdar realised the need to find out an alternate solution for this and came across internet. “During those days, internet fortunately became a major media to develop business. We came across IndiaMART.com around ten years ago. We started marketing our products through their website with 2-3 pages to see how it would work, and received good response from across the world. As a result, we gradually increased our web presence to two websites with five pages each as of today,” he added.

New laurels
Thanks to the company’s popularity on IndiaMART.com, it is now among the top five spice exporters on the site’s network. It has also earned a trust seal for being a reliable exporter of spices. “Because of our goodwill and reputation that came partly through IndiaMART.com, we started receiving a lot of inquiries from around the world. We were able to reach so many countries that we were unable to approach directly. Previously, we contacted buyers, but due to IndiaMART.com it is now buyers who approach us,” Mr Kamdar beamed.

Rising to new heights
Owing to this marketing success, Surendra Ray and Co now has a turnover of around Rs 10-15 crore and employs 6-7 people in Mumbai. “We have our staff at different production centres like Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, as well as a clearing and forwarding facility, where we produce quality products as per customers’ requirements or for private labels. In this way, we can control our price and quality better. Quality is among the main reasons our customers keep frequenting us,” he elaborated. As the global market for spices is growing, the company expects to reach Rs 25-30 crore soon. A government-recognised export house, the company is heavily focusing on exports now and IndiaMART.com can play a significant role in this growth story. “Our brand name, coupled with a robust marketing platform provided by IndiaMART.com has helped us in a big way and will surely take us to new heights,” he concluded.