He’s one smart cookie, who’s struck it rich in the business of biscuits. In the African market, no less. Vibhash H. Trivedi, a sales-marketing maverick with expertise in building national and international companies focussed on consumer goods, certainly seems to have found his métier as an entrepreneur with Kanoovi Foods Pvt. Ltd.

Having made significant strides at management levels in ‘Fortune 500’ companies earlier, the Managing Director of the firm must be elated to find his own fortunes spiralling towards greater success in the manufacturing and exporting of non-perishable food items in India.

In 2012, Trivedi stumbled upon a unit that had growth potential, but was handicapped by “lack of management and leadership”. Confessedly, Trivedi’s flair for bootstrapping led him to invest in the shaky enterprise, and later bag 100% stake in it.

“Earlier on, we had some issues with machinery and man-power since we were new to it. Market size and export of huge volumes of biscuits to South Africa were major considerations in opting for this business. Presently, we have 42 varied product ranges on offer. We’re one of the leading manufacturers and exporters of biscuits to Africa in varieties such as Glucose, Ginger, NICE, Milk, Cream, Digestive and cookies. Expansion plans are on the anvil, but we will stay put at Gandhinagar in Gujarat, because our firm also offers employment opportunities to women in nearby villages.”

“Kamil and Toppers are our two brands. Kamil, which is our mass market brand, is an Arabic word which means “the perfect one”. Toppers is our premium product brand targeted at supermarkets. In addition, we also do contract manufacturing for companies or brands. We developed the biscuit industry’s first ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. Our biggest achievement is that despite being a young company, we do the highest number of containers in Gujarat. Our target market is Africa, which is very price-sensitive. Timely delivery and quick product development are factors that have definitely delighted our customers. We’re opening up the market in one new country, every quarter.”

“Quality is the cornerstone of our existence. We owe our success to our customers, suppliers and vendors. My policy is not to cry over the past, learn from one’s mistakes and move on. An entrepreneur must build his business based on honesty, discipline, attention to detail, risk tolerance and good team-building. Striking a smart balance between all these factors is integral to success.”