Merchant exporters, despite being small in size and numbers, in entirety form major part of exports made by the country. While majority of the MSMEs in India are good in manufacturing, some are weak in marketing their products in international markets. A good chunk of the merchant exports is carried out in container loads and nobody will be interested to buy full container loads of a particular product manufactured by a specific MSME. Since MSMEs miss out on this opportunity of exporting their products, merchant exporters come into the picture to buy small quantities from each MSME and consolidate and export it as full container loads.
This model gives MSMEs a major boost in terms of their sales. Another important factor is that not all MSMEs can participate or go on marketing tours abroad given the costs involved. Merchant exporters on the other hand, who consolidate many MSMEs’ goods, have advantage of marketing these products and also placing them in the right market at international levels. Also, merchant exporters have excellent knowledge about end use, pricing and marketability of the products.
With regards to food products, merchant exporters possess huge advantage in near future for two reasons – Indian food is gaining popularity worldwide and Indian diaspora around the world is increasing day by day. The ethnic Indian communities are used to their respective food habits giving way to a significant market world over. This plays a major driving force for the growth of the business. More so, private label packing too boosts merchant exporters’ growth as they allow packing in any brands and don’t stick to their own brands.
However, when it comes to choosing your merchant exporter, MSMEs have a hard time choosing due to their understandable budget constraints. On the flipside, every buyer wants best quality goods at the lowest possible pricing, which is difficult to come by, as the pricing is directly related to quality. This is where Jay Keshav Exports fits right in to play an important role delivering a win –win situation for both parties.
Jay Keshav Exports have made it a policy to ask all their customers to negotiate the freight rates with the shipping line at the destination end. This way when the customers are signing contracts with shipping lines or freight forwarders, they get better pricing. Jay Keshav Exports also helps its customers by supplying them the right information for negotiating freight rates. This way the company is able to get competitive and better freight rates which ultimately help in reducing the product costs for its customers.
Incepted in 2010, Jay Keshav exports started off with a very humble capital and less workforce. With the help of its customers, the merchant exporter begun gradually at a steady pace and expanded the business with an average year-on-year growth of 20%. All those involved in the value chain work with only one moto “CUSTOMER FIRST – NO COMPROMISE”. Jay Keshav primarily caters to the ethnic Indian community situated in various countries.
The company has consolidated its position in the present market by catering to the A list customers and has established a very healthy & long standing relationship with its existing customers. The company has about 1000 items under one umbrella. The goods are procured from various corners of the country. The procured items are then processed, packed & shipped to the importers. Jay Keshav exports has various quality control measures to ensure that the goods are of
highest quality standards. The company has recently added many more new products to its list due to which the turnover is increasing year after year.
Key Exports
There is a range of variety of products that will be exported. The company wishes to create a product list of around 1500 products. Apart from the regular products like spices & south Indian rice & rice products. The company also exports Coconut water, south Indian snacks, Millets, jaggery and jaggery products in huge quantities. The company has developed products for specific consumers like Punjabis, Gujaratis and south Indians.
These specialty products are available in various countries and especially in the regions where the ethnic population is pre-dominant. For example, the company has a customer in western Canada which is predominantly Punjabi dominated. Hence, the export to this region is mainly Punjabi products or that used by the Punjabis. Similarly, South Indian products are exported to Melbourne, west coast of USA where there is a predominant south Indian / Sri Lankan population.
Exceptional Procurement Process
Procurement has been one of Jay Keshav’s biggest strength. With such vast number of products under its product list, the procurement has to be very strong. Jay Keshav has a dedicated procurement team that has been trained in the nuances of buying. The motto instilled in every individual of the procurement team is ‘QCT’ - quality, cost and timely supply. These three factors take care of everything in procurement.
Every product is procured from the right place at the right time. Critical control points are identified with various suppliers which Jay Keshav terms it as ‘BOTTLENECK ITEMS’. These are the ones which are critical for execution of orders but can delay the shipments if not attended to on time. To make sure the process remains seamless, these items are taken care of at the procurement level ensuring that things are under the company’s control.
Quality control is doing things correctly the first time and every time. The company's only belief is in providing excellent customer service
As for the quality; there is no compromise whatsoever. The incoming goods are rejected if it does not adhere to the quality standards set by the company. The supplier is made aware of the quality issues before he starts supplying to us. Besides, Jay Keshav exports keeps backup solution if anything fails, which will help to execute the orders on time. Thus, the entire process is streamlined, with proper contingency to leave no gap.
More so, Jay Keshav has implemented GMP to the core. The organization was an ISO22000:2005 certified company for almost 8 years. Now, jay Keshav is registered under FSSC 22000 food safety system certification. This is the highest level of certification for any food business entity.
Jay Keshav follows all USF-DA, AQIS, CFIA, EU guidelines and makes sure that all goods exported to respective regions comply with country specific regulations in totality. These have been achieved due to the compliance as regards to quality and hygiene of the entire process including both men and materials.
“Jay Keshav Follows All Usfda, Aqis, Cfia, Eu Guidelines And Makes Sure That All Goods Exported To Respective Regions Comply With Country Specific Regulations In Totality”
Meeting Global Standards with Ease
Jay Keshav’s major exports are to the North American continent and especially to the United States that follows a very strict policy with regards to quality. Once you register yourself with US FDA for export of food, you have to comply with their regulations. The US FDA deputes their own personnel for quality audits and inspection of the registered units. Jay Keshav Exports had two such inspections in a span of 5 years; once in 2013 and again in 2017.
On both the occasions the audit which normally spreads over two days, was completed within half a day. The US FDA inspectors found no fault in Jay Keshav’s system. Rather, complimented this merchant exporter for maintaining such high standards of quality and hygiene. “The praise they had for our company is one of the driving forces to achieve greater heights in future”, says jay Vora, Chairman & Managing Director, Jay Keshav Exports.
Rewarding Past and Bright Future
Jay Keshav has won export awards under various categories from time to time for the past 10 years and more. Speaking on the future of the industry and Jay Keshav’s role in it, Jay Vora says, “The market is always available for food businesses like ours. With the world opening up and everything now available at the click of a button, the business is bound to grow at a steady pace in future. However, this depends mainly on business entities that maintain high integrity and credibility and not aim for short term gains.
We, Jay Keshav, will strive harder to earn a good reputation and respect in the field which will automatically turn into more business opportunities”. The organization plans to enter into other markets like Africa, Europe and South America in the next 2-3 years. At the same time, Jay Keshav intends to catapult its financial turnovers to at least Rs. 300 Crores in the next 5 years.
