Goldiee Group – How this Trailblazer CPG brand from Kanpur is aggressively chasing the Rs 5000 cr dream

Sudeep’s interview is like a master class on how an India-born FMCG brand can craft its own success story. Here are some of the key learnings from him:

• “The 1st generation is the creator, 2nd generation has to maintain, the 3rd generation kicks it up to the highest level. But, I think the success rate of the current generation is less than 3%.”
  
  For most entrepreneurs, the fear of creating an enduring brand is very real. Can I create a brand that can outlive me? Can I groom worthy successors to take my legacy forward? Sudeep is the 2nd generation-entrepreneur, and he along with his elder brother Akash and uncle’s son Shubham Gupta, is making sure that their children are actively involved in the family business from a very young age. On many occasions, the kids have travelled with their fathers to annual distributor meets, and participated in many events across multiple states so that the distribution network can also connect with the future generation.

• “Running a CPG company to running a marathon. If you run fast you’ll lose your stamina and you’ll only go so far. If you run slow then you’ll waste your stamina, and eventually not get there.” Sudeep Goenka knew that moving from a regionally dominant to a nationally-present brand was not going to be an overnight journey.
  
  For him, the goal was not that they wanted to be a local brand, a regional brand, a national brand or a global brand. The goal was always to do better than where they are today. That meant incorporating best practices, using technology to enhance their operations and creating a masterful marketing strategy  that would catapult their brand to shelves across the nation.
  
  Launching a brand is a phenomenal milestone, but growing the brand consistently, conquering one state after another while staying true to your values and ethics is even more commendable. And Goldiee Masale has done that by the truckloads.

• Marketing is critical for growing your brand: For Goldiee Masale, choosing Salman Khan as their brand ambassador was a deliberate decision. As Sudeep puts it,  “In the times where every other brand had a female celebrity, we chose the male celebrity because our customers are housewives. And they prefer Salman Khan more! Secondly, he is the only celebrity we thought who appeals to masses and classes both.”
  
  Sometimes what may seem counter-intuitive actually works well in real life, as Sudeep rightly anticipated. Today, this collaboration has helped Goldiee Masale reach almost all states in the country, where the same masalas, spice blends, tea, pooja kits etc are consumed in Tier 4 cities as well as in South Bombay. 

• Not just ‘Rishtey Banaye’ but ‘Rishtey Nibhaye’:  Just like his father, Sudeep too believes that his people are the reason for the company’s success. Some workers have been with the company for over 40 years. They are unable to operate the automatic machines, but they are still employed by the firm and work on manual processes in packing products because Sudeep believes that it is their luck that has contributed to Goldiee’s success. Only a handful of companies can claim to retain long-standing employees who have been with them since the company’s inception. This is why the Goldiee Group stands out due to their work principles and values. 

• Technology is your friend: Goldiee Group has always been a first-mover when it comes to adopting technology. As Sudeep puts it, “Goldiee was the company which installed the first computer in the year 1988. When my father and uncle had an option to buy a new scooter or a computer, they bought the computer.”
  
  Goldiee Group has walked the talk on technology from Day 1, implementing ERP when other small companies like theirs were still struggling with basic computer applications. They have also adopted sales force automation (SFA) as well as distributor management system (DMS), something that even the multinational FMCG giants have a challenge with. For them, technology was never something to be scared of, but to be seen as an enabler for making data-oriented decisions and growing incrementally and consistently.
  
  For this 43-year-old Kanpur-based company that has just installed Asia’s largest capacity spices manufacturing under one roof, there couldn’t be a bigger testament to their progressiveness, and commitment to tech-powered growth.