The Hindu Business Line : Happiness (un)Ltd

If a tourist guide were to introduce Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani to a business executive, he could describe them as places `where CEOs strive to make their company a happy one and not necessarily the biggest or the greatest.'

Radically different from those prescribed by the principles of modern management, companies such as Mapro, Mala's and Manama have successfully transformed the Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani region in western Maharashtra from just a tourist destination to a food-processing zone as well. The weather here is ideal for growing fruits such as strawberries, raspberries and mulberries. There are about 15 food-processing companies in this region, manufacturing jams, crushes, squashes, confectionary items, syrups, ice-creams and so on.

But many of these medium-sized companies have managed to take on big players like Kissan. "Sometime ago, we got a private consultant to do a survey for us; we found out that in jams, we are a close second to Kissan in market share and in concentrates, if you combine the share of Mapro and Mala's, we beat Kissan," says Mayur Vora, CEO of Mapro Fruits.

Interestingly, Mayur's father, Kishore Vora, started Mapro in 1959 as a hobby and later it became a full-fledged business venture. The same is true for Mala's. "My grandfather, Azhar Ali Mala, started the company in 1958. It was more of a hobby for him. The company was commercialised by my father. Today, it is handled by my brother, Murtaza Mala, an MBA from California," Mufaddal Mala says. What is different about these companies is their business approach. Though they come a close second to the market leader, they don't really strive to beat the competition. "We work according to a different paradigm. We don't strive to be the greatest. We just want to be the happiest and you have to stay at Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani to experience this," says Vora. It is for this reason that Mapro has no plans to launch any advertising campaign in the near future and is not bothered that people outside western India are not familiar with the brand. Mapro has been recording a 30 per cent growth in sales every year. Mala's, with a growth rate of 10 per cent per year, plans to expand into in the northern and southern parts of the country. The companies have also achieved quality standards. "Mapro has achieved ISO-HACCP, ISO-9001 status certified by BVQI," says Vora, who is an IIM-Bangalore graduate. Mala's is in the process of getting the ISO-HACCP certification.

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