--By Sujan Tiwari

 

"Time doesn't favour you always. You should be ready to strike the iron when it is hot," says Mahesh Kumar Jaju, MD of Asian Thai Foods Pvt Ltd and Asian Biscuits and Confectionary Pvt Ltd.

 

Jaju has made his name in the FMCG business of Nepal through Rum Pum noodles and Good Day biscuits. His products are performing as expected in the domestic market, and now Jaju wants them to do equally good in the international market as well. “Even today, Rum Pum has a good market in USA, Middle East and Australia. My dream is to export more of my products to foreign countries,” says he. On the domestic front, Jaju has no plans of foraying out of FMCG business.

 

Jaju opines that the government should allow businessmen to invest in foreign countries, and he wants to open new industries abroad. According to him, If Nepali entrepreneurs go global; it will be beneficial for the country as well. “Nepali entrepreneurs are competitive and resilient. We have survived through armed conflict, extended power cuts, labour problems and countless other impediments. If we can survive here, we can succeed in anywhere in the world,” says he. 

 

The Ignition

Jaju entered into business at a tender age of fourteen. His father used to own a textile shop in Biratnagar, and as the eldest son, he helped his father with the business. He was familiar with the business even before that, when he was just ten. “I have seen business at the grassroots, and it still helps me in understanding what my customers want,” says Jaju.

 

 His father imported textiles from Indian cities. When he was sixteen, his father once sent him to India to import the textiles on his own. He went to India and visited cities like Calcutta, Mumbai, Surat, Delhi, Ahmedabad, and Meerut and made the purchase. When he returned with the textiles, he felt that it gave him more pleasure to sell the goods 

that he had purchased himself. He started taking more responsibilities of his shop and soon it was the most popular shop in the entire area. However, working in a shop was not what he wanted, he dreamt of being in a bigger business.  

 

After he was looking after the shop, his father started an industry that processed oil and pulses. He wasn’t interested in that either, and wanted to start something bigger and innovative. At the same time, one of his relatives approached him and talked to him into opening a biscuit factory in partnership. Satisfied with the idea, Jaju started Kwality Biscuit Factory Pvt Ltd which started production in 2046 BS. 

 

Facing Adversities

According to Jaju, it was very hard being in a new business at first, and he didn’t make any profit for the first seven years. “My family was disheartened and started to lose confidence in me.  I too was frustrated as I wasn’t able to get any outcome from the industry,” recalls he. The industry was set up at an investment of seven million rupees, and he had invested around two million rupees as a partner.  

 

Eventually, his family and partner pressurized him to give up the business and sell the industry. Even more frustrated, Jaju asked for one more year to make the business work. He didn’t have anything in his mind at that point; he just wanted to delay the selling of his industry. 

 

The Comeback 

“No matter how much effort you put into something, you can’t achieve success if time is not on your side. I believe luck plays some part in everything,” says Jaju. Within a year, he introduced a new biscuit named Milk Glucose. To his surprise, it was an instant hit. All of a sudden, the demand for the biscuit was so high that the factory couldn’t meet it. Other companies started copying his product. This gave him the much needed motivation and enthusiasm when he was almost about to give up. 

 

After that, he paid more attention to branding of his products, and made his biscuits attractive and designed new wrappers. He introduced other two new biscuits Tasty Tasty and Butter Cracker, and continued with the branding, promotion and advertising. Soon, Kwailty Biscuit became a household name throughout Nepal. “All of this happened within a year. Finally, time was on my side and my efforts paid off,” says he. Inspired by his success, he decided to move further and established Kwality Soaps and Chemicals Pvt Ltd.   

Finally, both his industries started performing well. Unfortunately, at the same time, Juju and his partner had some irresolvable conflicts. He sold his shares to the partner and stepped out of the partnership. Filled with new energy, it didn’t affect Jaju, and he started on his own. He took license to start a noodles factory and started Asian Thai Food Pvt Ltd in 2055 BS. The company introduced Rum Pum noodles a year later. “I backed my product with huge marketing campaigns, promotions and consumer schemes, and as a result, Rum Pum became a very successful product,” says Jaju. Today, Rum Pum owns around 25 per cent of the noodles market share, says Jaju.   Jaju then set up Himgiri Soap and Chemical Industries Pvt Ltd and started producing soaps and detergent powders. According to Jaju, the industry is the second largest in Nepal. 

 

Present

Just about a year ago, Jaju started his new venture Asian Biscuit and Confectionary Pvt Ltd. The company produces Good Life biscuits that are currently doing very good in the market.  “The secret of the success of my products is promotion and branding. I spend huge money in print media, TVCs and other advertisements. No other FMCG company has spent on our scale,” claims he. However, he says that mere promotion doesn’t guarantee the success of a product, its quality is equally important.

 

Brands

Rum Pum, 2 pm, Preeti, Miteri, Gaurav and Krish are the brands of noodles manufactured by Asian Thai Foods. According to Jaju, Rum Pum is the number one noodle brand in western Nepal. The company   also produces Mama, Fuchche and Enjoy Cheese balls and Kuramkura snacks, Mama and Pic Vic bhujiya. Asian Biscuit and Confectionary manufactures 25 different varieties of Good Life biscuits. Jaju’s soap factory manufactures Dhoni brand of soap and detergent powder and similar other products.  Through his three industries, around 3000 have received employment and the companies have a total turnover of 3.75 billion rupees. 

 

Personal Side

 Born in 2019 in Main Road Biratnagar to Late Ramanand Jaju and Late Harpyari Devi Jaju, he was the fifth child of the family. As there were no private schools, he went to Satya Narayan Primary School of Biratnagar. As he was in occupied with business since childhood, he was an average student. He went to Mahendra Morang Campus for his further studies. Jaju is married to Kamala Jaju, and the couple have two sons Ashish and Vedan, and a daughter Sneha.  

 

Jaju says he is a man of faith and is very religious. He doesn’t even eat his breakfast before going to Birateshwor Temple and offering milk to Lord Shiva.  He again spends 45 minutes every day in puja in his home. His days are spent in meetings and factory inspections.  He says he is constantly looking for ways to improve his business. “You can call me a workaholic. I even work on Saturdays as I can’t stay idle for long,” says Jaju.  

 

Words of Advice

Jaju says he trusts people very quickly, and the habit has worked for him and against him too. “Many have betrayed me in line of business, still I trust people very easily,” shares Jaju.  He advises entrepreneurs to be honest and to stand by their word. According to him, to be successful, one must know how to take advantage of opportunities.