HYDERABAD: Freedom Healthy Cooking Oils, a flagship brand of Gemini Edibles and Fats India Pvt. Ltd (GEF India) has the highest market share in the Sunflower oil industry. The company also provides rice bran oil, groundnut oil and mustard oil. Here is an interaction with P Chandra Shekhara Reddy, the Sr Vice President of Sales & Marketing at GEF, to shed light on how the brand became number one and more.
Please tell us the story behind building the brand and the challenges involved.
Under the aegis of Pradeep Chowdhry, the founder, we were able to grow the company to this level. We have been working together for the past 30 years. This super fast success and trade reputation has been possible with putting in those years of experience. To begin with, we had the conviction that the future is of branded edible oils. With that conviction in mind, we set up the infrastructure, brand marketing and quality because of which we see this fantastic growth.
Within this ecosystem, there are two possibilities, high priced but high quality and low-priced, low quality. We came to the market to provide good quality oil at affordable prices. While we wanted to gain the image of our sunflower oil, we positioned our brand as a value-for-money. We also concentrated on distribution. We ensured that it’s available across high-population towns and even villages.
How do ensure quality and how do you source the raw material?
To give good quality oil, three things are required. One is, whether you source raw materials domestically or from international places, only good quality raw material makes good oil. Oil is subject to price fluctuation. So when the profits are shrinking, producers tend to give poor-quality oil. We do not compromise on that. Second is honesty and third is trade trust.
Do you also take into consideration the dietary requirements of people?
Edible oils are required only for a few things: seasoning, shallow frying and deep frying. We don’t have anything for salad dressing. We have three or four kinds of oils. One is mustard oil, which is used for certain kinds of dishes, for people who want pungency. Then we have rice bran oil, which contains a micronutrient called Oryzanol.
A lot of universities in India and abroad have published that Oryzanol when taken as per the dietary recommendations, reduces the bad cholesterol and increases the good cholesterol. Then we have the groundnut oil that goes well for certain dishes like for making chutneys or pickles. The universal oil is sunflower oil, which retains the food taste and does not change the flavour of the food.
Any success stories that you could share?
We are there in almost every village in the state, up to 25000 towns. We got a lot of media attention for our distribution expansion. We got published in the Harvard Journal also. Also, we got the ‘Brand of Choice’ recognition by ISPOS in 2020.
Do you also follow some sustainable practices?
There are two things, one is at the factory level, we are the only producer having zero liquid discharges at our plants. Usually, all effluent treatment plants are in the ground so companies don’t get to know that there is a seepage. We have our effluent treatment above the ground so if there is a seepage, we come to know. Our plants are directly connected to the Pollution Control Board. They can monitor our emissions. In terms of packaging too, everything is recyclable.
So what are the future plans of the company?
From Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, we have started distribution in Chhattisgarh also now. It is closely connected to our Kakinada plant. As for manufacturing, we want to put up a plant in Hyderabad, which will cater to the production needs of all kinds of oils.
Do you take up any CSR activities?
We have adopted the Warangal Bharosa Centre with the Telangana police to work for women’s safety. We also have close to 200 Kishore Vikas Kendras with an NGO to help with girl education. For Akshay Patra, we contribute every year in terms of the midday meal, vans and oil too. We have also helped set up a school in Habsiguda.