‘Rice-wise’ brothers, Vikas Garg and Anshul Garg trace the journey of Anvi Exim from a retail store in the small town of Sriganganagar, Rajasthan, to being a government recognized star-rated rice export house. The brothers have grand plans to steer the company to greater heights, envisaging rice trading canopies in Dubai and Africa.
Around two decades ago, Anvi Exim embarked on a remarkable journey that has seen it grow from being a small shop in the local mandi to being a government-recognized star-rated export house. From this humble start, the company has registered an impressive growth with an annual turnover of around Rs 200 crores.
The able leadership and strategic vision of the ‘rice-wise’ brothers – Vikas Garg, Director, Anvi Exim, and his younger brother Anshul Garg, Business Head Overseas – have been instrumental to this growth. When they started trading, they mainly operated from the small town of Sriganganagar, Rajasthan.
It transitioned from selling its products in the domestic market to exporting over 60 varieties of rice through its brands ‘Jaisal Heritage’ and (recently launched) ‘Little India’ to countries scattered across 4 continents. It currently has over 65 overseas clients. The client base is a bouquet of diverse groups ranging from government state trading corporations to supermarkets & individual importers. Explaining the genesis of Little India, they say:
When we entered the export market, we were operating under one brand – Jaisal Heritage. Although due to our quality and timely delivery, there was a considerable amount of growth, we felt that our brand value is not growing. That’s when we analyzed global trends and restructured our brand. Our new and exclusive brand – Little India, with attractive and industry-best packaging standards, provided us the requisite brand recognition and growth.
Anvi Exim is currently based out of the states of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana. It believes in a 360 degrees approach that contributed to its success. This entails all aspects ranging from production to post-sales customer service. Thus, for example, the paddy used by them is handpicked to ensure that its quality lives up to the global standards from select farms after they undergo rigorous quality checks.
The company has also ensured control over pesticide residues by implementing contract farming. It provides farmers with better seeds and conducive farming conditions, which helps them earn more revenue ultimately. This produce is then sent to its hi-tech rice mills and state-of-the-art processing and premium quality packing units. Meanwhile, the business development team of the export house ensures that orders keep coming in, while the supply chain management team completes the circle in delivering rice consignment to the client. Lastly, the c0mpany has ensured a dedicated after-sale services network to resolve any problems faced by importers/local clients.
The brothers have grand plans to steer the company to greater heights, envisaging rice trading canopies in Dubai and Africa. Commenting on their strategy to build brand equity in the international market, they say:
First and foremost the brand, quality, and packaging should be superior and must align with international standards. The global market for rice is very dynamic. Hence, the organization should be well updated with the trend. The minutest things like the name and color of packing should be taken care of. One should also be updated with the intellectual property laws of the importing country as the brand value is invaluable and should be protected.
To this end, the company has procured many international certifications. Anvi Exim also has an ambitious target of reaching Rs 1,000 crores in 1,000 days and expanding its pool of export destinations by disseminating the fragrance of India’s pride – Basmati Rice – across the globe. Further, given the growing importance of digital marketing, the brand is also working on expanding its social media and e-commerce presence.
This article is a part of TPCI’s Connect initiative
