Quality and ethics, real success mantra: Jai Agarwal of Gyan Dairy
Moneycontrol, India’s leading financial news digital platform and CommsCredible, an integrated communications consultancy, have come together to partner with Grant Thornton Bharat, one of the largest fully integrated Assurance, Tax & Advisory firms in India, to launch Faces of Vibrant Bharat (FoVB), an initiative that tells stories of organisations making an impact on India’s social fabric with their work at the grassroot level.
Balancing quality and profitability by collaborating effectively with the farmers, Gyan Dairy has established a business model thriving in the heartland of India – Uttar Pradesh. “Our business gives us an opportunity to touch many lives in this part of the country. So, we thought of creating value for them,” said Jai Agarwal, Managing Director.
Launched in 2007, the company’s dairy business has today grown to INR 908 crore partnering with small farmers. With a network of over 100,000 daily farmers from around 2,500 villages, the company supplies products to over 150,000 households through 500+ distributors and 40,000+ retailers. Gyan Dairy aims to become the most loved brand in India by 2025.
“The growing demand and acceptance from the customers have enabled us to target over INR 1000 crore turnover this year. We plan to reach out to the customer with innovative and unique additions,” said Agarwal. The company has consistently recorded over 40% year-on-year growth over the last three to four years.
Farmers have been an important stakeholder for the company. Gyan’s operational strategy focuses on reaching out directly to the rural milk producer and creating a remunerative market for them. The company also meets their technical needs by improving their skills and knowledge.
For this, it launched Gyan Choupal in 2018, a platform that keeps the milk producers abreast of the latest policies and programmes of the company apart from sharing modern animal husbandry practices. The company also created a separate group company SP Lab Pvt. Ltd., which owns Gyandhara, a brand that caters to the nutritional needs of cattle owned by milk producers. The company has been constantly innovating to provide high-quality feed through its well-structured R&D initiatives.
Sharing his advice for the budding entrepreneurs, Mr Agarwal said the key is to be persistent and ensure you set high quality standards. “India is now becoming a high-quality market. If you have the right quality and ethics, you will be successful.”What made Agarwal a Face of Vibrant Bharat?
“Uttar Pradesh is one of the top milk producing states in India. While the dairy industry has evolved over the years to include an array of products such as butter, paneer, ghee, the quality and safety of milk still remains a concern. Gyan Dairy offers the right infrastructure and procurement system for the small dairy farmers in India. Their focus on reaching out directly to the rural milk producer, creating a remunerative market and also meeting their technical needs, will pave the way forward for an industry that thrives on quality and farmer’s trust,” said Padmanand V, Partner, Public Sector Advisory, Grant Thornton Bharat.
“Starting in 2007, Gyan Dairy has steadily risen to become the biggest private dairy in Uttar Pradesh. To achieve this feat in an agrarian state speaks volume of their entrepreneurial ability, and the quality delivered to the end consumer. It’s one of India’s shining regional success stories, and stands out for the sector and the state in which it has created a mark, with its quality play,” said Aman Dhall, Founder of CommsCredible.