How a small grocery shop grew into Kush Proteins Pvt. Ltd., one of Gujarat's proud edible oil makers
Krishiv means Krishna plus Shiv: complete purity joined with complete faith. With that thought, Kailashbhai Shah and Madanlal Shah built the Krishiv brand of edible oil, and today it is making a name well beyond Gujarat. The company behind it is Kush Proteins Pvt. Ltd., founded in 2009.
The Shah family's roots are in Rajasthan. Their grandfather, the late Girdharilal Shah, and grandmother Jethibai came to Gujarat for trade and started a small grocery shop in Adas village near Anand. Later the family set up Kailash Traders, and in 2009 Kush Proteins was born, first in cattle feed and then in edible oil. Director Jayeshbhai Shah says the family's first principle came from their grandfather: never break the customer's trust. They still follow it today.
The company works from a 3 lakh sq. ft. production house at Vasad, on Sarsa Road. More than 300 people work in the refinery, boiler plant, packaging, jar plant, bottle plant and tin plant. The rice mill makes 200 tonnes a day with about 150 staff, and the cattle feed unit makes 400 tonnes a day with another 200 people. In all, the company can process 25,000 metric tonnes.
Krishiv produces about 300 tonnes of edible oil every day. The range includes groundnut (ghani) oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, kachi ghani mustard oil, corn oil, soybean oil, coconut (copra) oil and castor oil. Every stage, from raw material to final packing, is handled in-house, with an in-house laboratory testing each step. The company also runs its own research and development.
Directors Vikasbhai Shah and Jitubhai Shah say the company's biggest capital is customer trust. To deepen it, Krishiv has developed a process that removes wax from the oil without chemicals or preservatives, using modern technology. The result is a wax-free, crystal-clear oil. Krishiv also says its oils are free of cholesterol and trans fat.
Under the Korn Health brand, the company sells refined corn oil. Corn oil is a healthy alternative for kitchens because it is rich in vitamins and has a long shelf life, and it is competitively priced. Since the plants for jars, tins and bottles are also in-house, production cost stays low and good oil reaches customers at reasonable prices.
Krishiv's sales network covers Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, with over 150 distributors. The company is now focusing on the HoReCa (hotel, restaurant, catering) segment and on taking the brand online across India.
Next, the company plans to launch cold-press oils and other organic products, and a unit for them is being planned.