Modern-day GrocerShammi Agarwal, Director, Pansari group

Being a third-generation employee of this family firm, Shammi Agarwal can recall starting his career in mustard oil bulk dealing and retailing in 2011. "But I've always known that our family business dates back to the 1940s when my grandpa founded a tiny grocery store in Poata, Rajasthan. "Pansari ki dukaan" was the name of the store," recalls Shammi.

Sharing his bold moves at the organization, Shammi mentions, "A while back I instructed my team to concentrate more on smaller cities and towns, and we made the decision to hire more professionals. We only paid attention to branding our trustworthy mustard oil. The idea was to distinguish one branded product from the rest." From 2017 onward, he added more products under the Pansari brand when the objective was met. Pansari began to appear on refined vegetable oil, rice, flour, spices, and cereals. Consumers were wooed with a large selection of high-quality products at prices lower than the competitors, while retailers were attracted with sizable margins. They saw a massive increase in sales. From ₹473 crores in revenue in FY17, the numbers have jumped to ₹1,005 crores in FY22.

A major part of the long-standing brand is mustard oil. After that, they added other items, including refined vegetable oil, rice, flour, spices, and cereals that bore the Pansari brand. They also provided customers with a large selection of premium goods at lower costs than competitors. With his operating style of risk-taking, he is focused more on making Pansari a common name in the Indian household through their B2C and B2B operations.

Talking about introducing changes in the family business, Shammi shares, "The family is highly supportive of introducing challenges into the business as we are aware that we are a work in progress. We once experienced a significant setback. The business suffered a loss of more than one crore. But my father encouraged me and urged me to keep working hard. My uncle also urged me to maintain my taste for danger. There are no failures, he told me. It never stops learning."

Factsheet

Age- 35

Current turnover- 1011 cr

Number of employees- 500 +employees