By Mithran Sri Ram
Wet Grinder is a home appliance, which is used for preparing the batter, which is the ingredient for idlis and dosas. Various types of wet grinders are available in the market starting from 2 litres capacity and upto to 40 litres capacity. It has become a necessary home appliance in south India. Also, wherever South Indians are living there is huge market potential. Higher capacity wet grinders from 3 litres onwards are used for commercial purposes like Hotels, Marriage Halls, and commercial batter manufacturers etc., Sowbaghya Enterprises is one manufacturer serving the needs in Hotel Equipments and Home Appliances for the past 4 decades.
Balasubramaniam, Group General Manager of Sowbaghya Enterprises, Chennai says huge business potential are available in Home Appliances and Hotel Equipments. Experts from his speech.,,
How is the Journey of Sowbagya – as a Brand?
We have been in this business for almost three generations now. As seen from the starting point, our motto is one. Whatever utensils a housewife touches in her kitchen for cooking – it should be our product. We have been making all our product ranges keeping that in mind. Our journey and struggles today are in that direction only. A few of our product ranges include Wet grinders, Induction stoves, Electric Rice cookers, Water heaters, Iron boxes, and Pressure Cookers.
Therefore, even if it is a small function or a big home wedding – they can buy everything they need and also create a circumstance to celebrate. We have our showrooms in Chennai, Erode & Vijayawada and Distributors throughout Tamil Nadu, and resellers across India. 
Is GST a boom for the Wet Grinders Industry?
Definitely. GST is a big boom for this industry. Prior to GST, there were four to five processes of taxation prevailed. For Manufacturers & Traders GST is highly helpful. The formula is a simple calculation and definitely it is good for the industry. All the wrong people operating in the market earlier have gone out of the field because of GST and only genuine people who are comfortable with these taxations are the players contributing now to the growth of this segment. With this current GST system, without any geographical barriers – we will know better who our suppliers are and they can also know about us. So there will be good supply and good growth.
Are Raw Materials available easily for making a wet grinder?
Raw Materials are a little bit in demand for the past year. We were not able to get the required material in the required rate. We can’t blame GST alone for this – there are so many other reasons as well. Now it is somewhat better when compared to the past 6 to 8 months. We source all our raw materials from Coimbatore which is the grinder hub of India. There are sources where we can get all the raw materials in a single place. From there, raw materials reach our factory & the finished products reach our Chennai warehouse.
How do you adapt to Technology upgradation in your business?
Today a business cannot grow without digital and e-commerce. Whether it’s a small business or a big good business in shopping malls, no one can do business without e-commerce & without digitalisation. When there is a situation where you only know what is available in the local market, this digitalisation is highly useful because we can clearly see what it is available for us all over India. Apart from having our own E-commerce website, we are currently available on all top E-Commerce Platforms.
How are you Creating New Markets?
Very recently we have entered Andhra Market and doing invariably well there. Like how we are strong in home kitchen products, we are strong in the supply for commercial kitchens also. That is, for hotels, restaurants, hospitals, canteens, wedding mahals and bulk catering etc., for all of their other kitchen needs. The weight of a grinder that grinds one kg of rice starts from 13 kg. We manufacture a grinder which can grind 13 kg of rice in one shot. We manufacture a chapathy machine which can deliver 800 chapathis in one hour, vegetable cutting machine that cuts 100 kg of vegetables into any size we want in one hour, Induction stoves which helps in saving 60% cost cutting when compared to gas stoves – are few of our commercial ranges of products. These product ranges have in fact created new markets for us.
What is your Action Plan for 2022 – 2023?
We have opened newer avenues. We have signed up a contract with government institutions through which we supply grinders to the police canteens. We have plans to improvise our presence in Andaman. In the Hotel Equipments category, without any installation procedures, one can just simply plug and play with our Tilting Wet Grinders, Kneading the chapati dough, Aata Kneader, Vegetable Cutter, Potato Peeler, and Coconut Scraper machines. In commercial induction stoves, pizza ovens, and grill plates we were been doing wide range of products.
Today, if the civil work is completely done to run a commercial kitchen – we can complete all their kitchen needs like arrangements of tables, arranging cooking units, water facilities, gas facilities & exhaust systems. Recently we have executed a Cool Kitchen Concept for a German Factory’s Canteen. No one can see a naked fire inside their kitchen as all are induction based.
Can you share more about Kool Kitchen Concept?
Anything you cook, the chef’s body will be hot because of the humidity in the kitchen. It can’t be said that their sweat has not fallen on the food. In this cool kitchen concept, as everything is cooked in Induction mode where you cannot see fire anywhere, there is no question of heat & sweat. Considering the cost of LPG Gas, many commercial hoteliers and caterers are now embracing this concept. People always welcome new innovations and products today. When we fulfil their apprehensions with perfect quality and pricing – there will always be good acceptance from people.
The production of wet grinders does not involve highly technical operations, but it requires a degree of specialization in manufacturing the components required for wet grinders. This cluster has developed on its own without any external help so far. This cluster has got tremendous growth potential if proper guidance is given.
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