Local health drink maker optimistic about growth

The founder of the brand talks about holding on against stiff competition from local and MNC players in the saturated energy drink space.

The journey of this cardamom-flavoured health drink began in 1981, when S Ramakrishnan, a former quality control expert with India Piston, decided to take up fulltime entrepreneurship to supplement his family income. His spouse was the inspiration behind naming his company Lakshmi Ragimalt Industries. 

From a humble beginning, the entity now manufactures and exports products like Ragimalt, Badam Mix, Rose Milk Mix, Pista Feast, Ice Cream Mix and Health Mix. “It was the confidence of a big distributor who has been with us for over 18 years now, that drove us. He saw the potential of this product, and helped us achieve new milestones with each year,” Ramakrishna said. 

He added that there were 11 flavours of Ragimalt (cardamom and ragi being the core elements). Two export entities have been carved out to manage the diversified portfolio of Lakshmi Ragimalt Industries. These are managed by his daughter Revathi, who took to business unlike her sister who chose to be a banker. 

Though reticent about revealing his turnover, Ramakrishnan said from the initial days of selling 5,000 packets a month, the volume had grown to touch 50,000 packets a month. At his Tirunenrur unit, where he engages 30 direct employees, the exercise of preparing and packing takes place. “Our competence in packaging as per international standards led us to venture into exports nine years ago,” he said, adding the enterprise directly exports to the customers in the US, while it happens indirectly in Malaysia and Singapore. 

However, the lion’s share of the market that the company enjoyed at one point no longer exists. “Other players entered the market and started manufacturing imitations. This continues to be a major challenge for us.” 

The recipient of three Central government awards and many state awards, the businessman takes pride in letting us in on his success mantra. “It is the quality standards that we maintain that drives our business. We have long-time customers in the US who buy bulk consignments that have grown from less than a lakh to Rs 5 lakh today. Such transactions are done once in three months. Over time, based on requests, we have made our packaging more vibrant,” he said.