ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN ABHIVYAKTI MAGZINE OF NIFTEM BY VINTI SINGLA.

                                       BY

GO BUY A HEALTHY THING

It gives me immense pleasure in writing a success story of VAP; where the discussion is restricted not just to the entrepreneur but to the product. Indeed I am talking about the little thing that wraps numerous benefits inside. Mahendra Patil our entrepreneur from Kurhe Panache who initially identified entrepreneurship as a means for generating additional flow of wealth has realized the luring opportunities lying ahead in this field. Also now he has got something to call his own and to work for it whole heartedly.

Patil, 28, pooled in few thousands to start his venture under the guidance of our team, Ujagar, in Village Adoption Programme -IV. Soon after the training and procurement of the raw material we started with the production of turmeric pickle keeping the age old legacy of homemade pickles alive. Indian households are well known for their obsession for traditional pickles and launching a healthy pickle was just the correct icing on cake. Soon after enough stock was ready we made our way to the market. Next on the cards was to look for a good order and to ensure the continuity in demand and supply for the pickle.

For this we surveyed extensively through the markets of Bhusawal but our efforts didn’t reap significant results. The solution rested in novelty of both processing and packaging techniques which would bring the required crescendo in sales of the product. So the groundnut oil (used in manufacturing) was replaced by sunflower oil and the use of sealing press to prevent any sort of leakages was employed in creating turmeric pickle.

In this way turmeric (a traditional medicine) was clubbed with the goodness of sunflower oil which made it a ‘healthy thing to buy’. Thus we had something to give us an edge over our competitors.

But establishing the product in the market was the real challenge for which a good marketing plan was required. This time we shifted our focus to big retail shops like Big Bazaar and other famed shops; Masala Centre, Sai Jeevan and various others in our vicinity. All went off well except for the retail shops where we had to raise the pitch by introducing bar code and getting various certifications from top regulatory authorities in the country. The various exhibitions where we marketed our product also showed record breaking sales with the entire stock sold in the initial few days. This motivation ended with FDA registration which our team got for the product last VAP.

If this is much then are you ready to go buy by the healthy thing?????..........    

                                                                                             -Vinti Singla  ( B. tech 2 year)