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| K.K.R.Karnan, Managing Director, Nirapara rice. |
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With one sack of paddy borrowed on credit, he had started his rice business 30 years ago. Today he sells 30-35 loads of rice under the brand name Nirapara are sold everyday. Behind this rise of fortune is the dedication, confidence and above all the unwavering concern for quality that distinguishes K.K.R.Karnan, Managing Director of Nirapara rice.
3rd among 7 children, he had to drop out of school at the age of 8 following his father’s death. From then his main outlook was to start some job. Soon he ventured into rice business with 1 sack of paddy.
From the beginning he stuck to quality and that brought steady inflow of customers. By 1977 he had set up the 1st flour mill and obtained license to stock paddy. His product started moving out of Ernakulam district. Though efforts had been made by him to remove stones, dirt etc from the rice, the dark grains present in the lot used to spoil the quality of rice and porridge.
It was then that he decided to set up a modern Sortex plant with computereised quality assurance available in Germany and Japan. The manufacturers themselves stated that the machine was meant for basmati rice. Disregarding the heavy risk he set up the machine costing Rs.50 lakhs in 1992.
The costly but superior product from Sortex plant was rejected by the distributors. But highest quality was the mantra he stood by. The sales plummeted and stocks started piling up. He felt that all his dreams were about to vanish.
But no, slowly, the customers started preferring quality to bargain rates. By 1999 they were exporting rice to Gulf and European Union. Today,quality-wise, the rice that is sold in Kerala is the same that is exported to foreign countries.
Undiluted quality had finally paid off..
Courtesy: Biju Pazhayampally, Sthreedhanam, February 2003
Contributed by: Administrator
