Ajit Dadarkar displays his Pravin products at "Swagat Bhandar", his Pune retail outlet.

Pravin Masalewale - Serving 2 Million People Worldwide Pravin Masalewale, the largest procurer, processor and marketer of spices in Maharashtra, was founded in 1962 by an entrepreneurial couple - Shri. Hukmichand Chordia and Sou. Kamalbai Chordia. A home based business then, Pravin has grown today to include 3 advanced manufacturing facilities, offering over 50 ground spices and spice blends. These Pravin products are classified under 3 specific categories to cater to the varied tastes and requirements of our 2 million plus customers across the world. A panel of in-house experts headed by septagenarian Shri Hukmichand Chordia procures raw spices for Pravin products. Raw spices are procured after a stringent selection process of reputed suppliers from all over India (and a few international ones). The spices are processed in unique hybrid plants using a blend of manual and automated processes. The Pravin R&D lab works closely with the procurement, production and marketing teams to assure the flow of quality products. Once a 2 people home enterprise, Pravin now employs more than 500 people, and reaches its consumers through a network of 200 distributors and 30,000 retailers. Pravin is run by 3 generations of the Chordia family. The founders provide the wisdom and guiding philosophy for an enterprise whose products are consumed everyday in over 500,000 families. Top

Clay model of the humble origins of Pravin Masalewale

The Pravin Story - A family’s Commitment Pravin Masalewale was started in 1962. Shri. Hukmichand Chordia, known as "Bhau" (elder brother) to all who know him closely, teamed up with his wife, Sou. Kamalbai Chordia (or "Bai" as she is respectfully addressed) to create ground spices and spice blends for the families in Guruwar Peth, Pune. In the initial days Bhau would carefully pick up basic spices from the local markets and Bai would grind them manually with painstaking toil. Then Bhau would sell the ground spices in the neighbourhood. Soon Bhau was making trips to the wholesale markets of Mumbai to bring basic spices in 4 or 5 sacks per visit. In 1971 a small production facility - a shed was built to produce spices on a larger scale. This facility in Hadapsur, on the outskirts of Pune, employed 20 people. In 1983 Bhau’s eldest son Shri. Raj Kumar Chordia led a modernization campaign and a modern production and business facility was developed in Hadpsur. Soon more plants, products and people followed. Shri Raj Kumar Chordia’s son Shri Vishal Chordia joined in 1999 to spearhead marketing initiatives. His younger brother Shri Anand Chordia joined the business in 2004 to lead R&D. Bhau and Bai spent their lives perfecting the grinding and blending of spices and now they are the ultimate source of all knowledge and wisdom for the whole enterprise. Top

Guntur Chillies from Andhra Pradesh before sorting

Raw Materials – Suppliers as Partners Shri. Hukmichand Chordia ("Bhau") and Sou. Kamalbai Chordia ("Bai") took great pains to locate the best raw spices in the local markets when they started their home enterprise. Soon Bhau was travelling to Mumbai's wholesale markets and buying the best that India had to offer – even though he was a small buyer in those days. As business grew, Bhau’s purchases expanded from a few sacks to truckloads. At the same time he developed close relationships with a few trusted suppliers and today we buy the best that world of spices has to offer; coriander from Rajasthan, chilly from Guntur, turmeric from Nizamabad, cinnamon from Mumbai and China, etc. Bhau has over the years built a team of experts who travel across the country, meet suppliers, farmers, study crop surveys, observe weather conditions, monitor the quality of spices that are to be purchased, and identify new regions and spice sources. This team has also developed close relationships with vendors who act as an extended arm of the Pravin family. An example would be Kumar Gajendra and Co. in Andhra Pradesh who have been procuring and supplying chillies to us since 1994. Septagenarian Bhau still visits the procurement centers and guides the Pravin teams. Top

Automated plant at Yavat

Production – Catering To Sophisticated Spice Consumers Five decades ago, most Indians ate food that had freshly ground spices. These spices were ground at home and the older women of the household maintained strict quality control. Now more and more people purchase packaged spices BUT the women who do most of the cooking are very sensitive to the quality of the spices they use. They still want the freshness of home ground spices, right aroma, texture and taste. And these requirements change every few kilometers in India. We at Pravin are constantly striving to give the household the taste they seek. To cater to our sophisticated customers, we use a blend of mechanization and human effort. There are many intricate processes in spice processing which should not be automated and we have ensured that human experts carry out such processes. Some others can be mechanized and we have done so. We have three plants now – Hadapsar, Shirwal (1999), Yawat (2001). We started with paper packaging, but with the expansion of markets, and the need for more product stability, laminated pouches made on fully automatic machines were introduced. And modernization continues at Pravin. Top