Sometimes, fortuitous incidents make us embark on paths we would otherwise never have dreamt of following.
When pharmacist Kishore Vora’s father fell ill and was advised by doctors to settle down in the dry clime of Panchgani in Maharashtra, his son accompanied him there. He is said to have opened a general store and, among other things, served as an agent for Kissan products.
Back then, Panchgani was known more for its sanatoriums and less for strawberries. Farmers were not getting the best prices for their products as strawberries weren’t too much in demand. People in India ate bananas and mangoes; but strawberry, being a fruit that remained fresh for around 24 hours, was not one that was heard of, or even consumed much.
Grabbing the opportunity
In 1959, a team of visiting government officials who were trying to promote food processing industries, was intrigued to learn that a pharmacist lived in a place with such a small population and no opportunities. They called him and offered him a license to start a food processing unit.
It was a business opportunity waiting to happen in a place ready for growth. Nothing loath, Kishore Vora started this new ‘hobby’ with a small investment of ₹800. His equipment was quite basic: one or two kerosene stoves, some vessels, and a thermometer.
The first few batches of strawberry and raspberry jam that he produced received a favourable response. The hobby soon became a full-time business as he experimented with fruit flavours and mixes. Strawberry and raspberry jams were followed by vegetarian jelly toffee (reportedly the first 100 per cent vegetarian type in the country), strawberry crush and rose sherbet.
These fruit-based products were initially sold under the name ‘Vora Products’. It is said that in the 1970s, Kishore Vora briefly entered into a partnership with a friend and though the partnership later ended, the name they had chosen for the business — Mahabaleshwar Food Products or Mapro Foods, in short — stayed.
To ensure a steady supply of produce, Vora forged strong relationships with farmers in the region and business grew steadily. But the catch was that it remained restricted to tourists visiting Panchgani and surrounding areas. Distribution did not spread beyond Mumbai and Pune.
Keeping it organic
The first factory was set up in 1983. Shop centres were strategically placed and people passing by were encouraged to drop in and ‘try’ the products, thus ensuring word-of-mouth publicity and sales. Though there were other jam producers in the area, Mapro was preferred because of the high percentage of fruit in its products.
Later that decade, Kishore Vora’s nephew Mayur Vora was brought into the business. The latter streamlined a number of products and put the company name on the map. Another factory was purchased in 1988 in Panchgani; this is where Mapro Garden is located today. Other units at Satara and Pune followed in 2006 and 2012, respectively.
Mapro Foods Private Limited was incorporated in 1990. The company has grown organically, preferring not to advertise and depends on sampling, point-of-sales promotions and word-of-mouth publicity for sales.
Mapro Garden — where visitors can see the actual production process of jams and syrups, and also taste the finished product — was an inspired idea that took shape in the 1980s. Spread across two acres of lush greenery, the park also has a chocolate factory and an auditorium. It employs locals and offers a ‘family’ ambience and is a popular holiday destination today.
Innovating
In 2007, a glut in strawberry production had farmers worried. It was then that Mapro conceived the brilliant idea of a strawberry festival at Mapro Garden. People were encouraged to visit the farms, pluck and taste the fruits and consume fruit-based products for free. This naturally translated into more sales and saved farmers heavy losses. Since then, the festival has become an annual affair held in March or April, with more and more farmers participating. The festival also helped increase tourism in the area as well as make people more aware of the benefits of fruit consumption.
All things strawberry are available at these festivals. If Wimbledon became famous for scintillating tennis and strawberries and cream, Mapro let imagination soar to go beyond that and create strawberry bhel, strawberry pizza, strawberry sandwich and chocolate dip strawberry, to name a few things that are offered at the festival. The All India Strawberry Growers Association (AISGA) supports the festival.
The Mapro Garden gets about 5,000 footfalls on a normal day and more than 20,000 a day during the Strawberry Festival. The visitors take home memories and tastes that do more for Mapro’s brand recall than any amount of advertising could achieve.
Market leader
While the strawberry festival put Mapro on the map in terms of brand recognition, it was the launch of ‘Falero’ in 2008 that really took the company places. The fruity chew that combined fruit and sugar in pectin jelly created a new category in the market, with the likes of market leaders Nestle, Parle and Perfetti trying to replicate the product, if reports are to be believed. The company introduces new flavours of Falero every year.
Today, Mapro Foods is a market leader in western India, offering a range of products from fruit jams and fruit beverage concentrates (crushes and squashes) and jellies to fruit bars, chews, and desert toppings. Of course, Falero contributes a lion’s share to the revenues. The confectionery and chocolate business, started in 2005, is reportedly doing well.
The pioneer of fruit-based confectionery in India today has four plants with a total processing capacity of 30,000 MT per annum. These production plants are located in the vicinity of fruit farms to ensure that least amount of time lapses between harvest and preparation.
The company has the prestigious ISO 9001:2008 certification, the ISO 22000:2005 certification and HACCP from BVQi (Bureau Veritas Quality International). It plans to implement British Retail Consortium or BRC Standards soon.
Modernising administration
Mapro constantly reinvents itself. It was the only Indian company honoured as one of the most effective rebrands by the 8th Annual Rebrand 100 Global Awards. It also plans to launch a range of premium chocolates.
What’s more, plans are afoot to keep the family out of daily operations, and roping in professionals to run the company. These administrative changes are expected to help Mapro touch ₹500 crores in revenue by 2020.
The company has a strong network of more than 300 distributors across 17 states in West, North, and South India. Its products are also available globally, in countries such as the US, UAE, Fiji and Russia.
The company’s CSR activities are intertwined with its business. For example, they provide employment opportunities to local youth (thus preventing migration) to developing surrounding villages, and provide support to farmers by laying water pipelines.
The village of Gureghar, where one of its plants is located, is said to be one of the few villages in India with 100 per cent sanitation, 100 per cent employment, 100 per cent literacy and 0 per cent drop out rate. Every house has a toilet and biogas facility.
The company shares a special relationship with its employees, putting their education, welfare and happiness above all else. Which explains the astonishingly low attrition rate — below 0.5 per cent!