MDH (Mahashian Di Hatti)
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Founder: Dharampal Gulati
HIGHLIGHTS
Dharampal Gulati of MDH took home over Rs 21 crore as salary last fiscal.
He is popularly known as Dadaji or Mahashayji
India's highest paid consumer product CEO is not a man known to grace magazine covers. But he is visually familiar to a vast swathe of the population. The 94-year-old Dharampal Gulati is the sprightly old man with a turban promoting masala brand MDH on television commercials and on every packs.
The fifth grade school dropout took home more than Rs 21 crore as salary last fiscal+ , higher than Adi Godrej and Vivek Gambhir of Godrej Consumer, Sanjiv Mehta of Hindustan Unilever and ITC's YC Deveshwar. His company Mahashian Di Hatti, popularly known as MDH, posted a 15% jump in revenues to Rs 924 crore with a 24% increase in net profit at Rs 213 crore.
Gulati, who is also called Dadaji or Mahashayji, is the man who diligently makes his daily round of factories, markets and dealers including on Sundays until he is satisfied everything is in order in the company where he holds 80% stake.
"My motivation to work is being sincere in product quality sold at affordable prices. And nearly 90% of my salary goes to charity in my personal capacity," said Gulati, the second-generation entrepreneur who joined MDH nearly 60 years ago.
What his father Chuni Lal started as a small shop in Sialkot, Pakistan, way back in 1919 is now a Rs 1500 crore empire which runs the masala company, about 20 schools and a hospital. After the partition of the country, Gulati moved to a shop in Karol Bagh in Delhi and has since opened 15 factories supplying 1000 dealers in India.
MDH has offices in Dubai and London and exports to about 100 countries. His son manages the overall operations now and six daughters handle distribution region wise. The company attributes its success to its supply-chain - from contract farming and sourcing spices from Karnataka and Rajasthan to Afghanistan and Iran. But the segment has been attracting newer players.
S Narendrakumar, who owns Everest brand, is the market leader with 13% share followed by MDH with 12% share, according to Euromonitor. Sales of sauces, dressings and condiments grew 16% to reach Rs 13,200 crore in 2016, as urbanisation sees consumers increasingly switching from unpackaged to packaged variants.
Within masala, herbs and spices, domestic players including DS Foods, Ramdev and Eastern retain the upper hand in India, unlike table sauces where international players, like Nestle and Hindustan Unilever are strong due to their focus on international cuisines. In addition, Kerala-based Keya, Baba Ramdev's Patanjali, and Mother's Recipe have also ramped up their portfolio with spices in convenient and ready-to-use packaging.
"Entering exports market is easier than launching within India as masala composition changes depending on local communities taste and region even as the basic ingredient remains the same. That's a huge challenge," Future Group's FMCG president Devendra Chawla said. "Also there aren't enough options Indian companies offer new age consumers and global cuisine such as Chinese, Thai or Italian."
MDH, that has more than 60 products, gets a bulk of its sales from three variants - Deggi Mirch, Chat Masala and Chana Masala - each selling roughly a crore packets every month. But global cuisine is not a focus yet.
"There is scope to widen the Indian spices market and converting consumers from unbranded products," said Rajinder Kumar, executive vice-president at MDH. "We dictate the prices in the market as rivals follow us to make their pricing strategy. Since we want to keep our business low margin, it helps the overall category grow due to affordability."
2019: Padma Shri
Himanshi Dhawan, This 95-yr-old has both Padma & Lakshmi, The Times of India
From: Himanshi Dhawan, This 95-yr-old has both Padma & Lakshmi, The Times of India
Spice King Is India’s Highest-Paid FMCG CEO
Remember the TV ads where “dadaji” blesses newly married couples, kisses young kids and shakes a leg even as the jingle “asli masale sach sach” plays in the background? That’s Dharam Pal Gulati, who at 95, is probably the world’s oldest ad star. And that’s not his only claim to fame. Gulati is the owner of the Rs 2,000-crore Mahashian Di Hatti (MDH) group, and has just been conferred the Padma Bhushan for trade and industry.
His phone has not stopped ringing since Friday night’s announcement but Gulati, popularly known as “Mahashay Ji”, with his trademark red turban and white moustache, is used to being recognised. And he loves it. “Main aur koi nasha nahi karta. Mujhe pyaar ka nasha hai (I have no addiction except an addiction to love). I love it when children and young people meet me and take pictures and selfies,” he says.
Gulati, a Class V dropout, is also reported to be the highest earning CEO in the FMCG sector, according to Euromonitor. Sources said he took home a salary of above Rs 25 crore in 2018. Born on March 27, 1923 in Sialkot, now Pakistan, Gulati’s is quite the rags-to-riches story. After Partition, Gulati and his family came to India with barely Rs 1,500 to call their own.
Gulati, now owner of 18 factories, initially worked as a tangewala
Initially, he started work as a tangewala (horse-cart puller), but soon his family gathered enough resources to open a spice shop in Karol Bagh’s Ajmal Khan Road.
Business slowly thrived and Gulati now has over 18 factories in India and Dubai with MDH spices distributed across the world. The company sells 62 products and claims 80% market share in north India. Even though he turns 96 in less than two months, Gulati visits at least one factory whether in Delhi or adjoining Faridabad or Gurgaon every day. His six daughters and a son help him run the masala empire he’s built.
Gulati says the secret to his long life is his spartan diet and regular exercise. “Main bhudha nahi, jawan hoon (I am still young),’’ he says, flexing his muscles and opening his mouth to show his pearly whites. He is up at 4 am every morning to walk at Nehru Park, followed by some yoga and a frugal breakfast. He also takes a walk in the evening and at night after dinner, and keeps himself updated with news on his phone and checks WhatsApp regularly.
Dharmpal still loves the limelight of course. Nearly every inch of the wall at MDH House in west Delhi’s Kirti Nagar industrial area is covered with his beaming face whether it is pictures encased in shiny gold frames, calendars, large cutouts and even a clock that traces his life through different pictures. Acting in his own TV commercial happened by accident when the actor slotted to play the bride’s father failed to turn up.
“When the director suggested I act as the father I thought this would save some money, so I agreed,” Gulati recounts. There was no turning back. Gulati has been part of all MDH TV commercials since. Evidently, India can’t seem to get enough of Dadaji and his deghi mirch.
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Mahashay Dharampal Gulati: A brief biography
Himanshi Dhawan, December 3, 2020: The Times of India
_sitting_at_the_MDH_store_(Photo-_MDH).jpg)
From: Himanshi Dhawan, December 3, 2020: The Times of India
Mahashay Dharampal Gulati, owner of the famous spice company MDH Masala, passed away due to a cardiac arrest on December 3 morning at a Delhi hospital. Here is one of his last profiles that was done by The Times of India in January 2019 Remember the TV ads where "dadaji" blesses newly married couples, kisses young kids and shakes a leg even as the jingle " asli masala sach sach" plays in the background? That’s Dharam Pal Gulati, who at 95, is probably the world’s oldest ad star. And that’s not his only claim to fame. Gulati is the owner of the Rs 2,000-crore Mahashaya Di Hatti (MDH) group and has just been conferred the Padma Bhushan for trade and industry. The phone has not stopped ringing since the announcement but Gulati popularly known as "Mahashaya ji" with his trademark red turban and white moustache is used to being recognised. And he loves it. " Main aur koi nasha nahi karta. Mujhe pyaar ka nasha hai (I have no addiction except an addiction to love). I love it when children and young people meet me and take pictures and selfies," he says.
Gulati, a class V dropout, is also reported to be the highest earning CEO in the FMCG sector, taking home a salary of above Rs 25 crore in 2018, say sources. Born on March 27, 1923 in Sialkot, now Pakistan, Gulati’s is quite the rags to riches story. After Partition, Gulati and his family came to India with barely Rs 1,500 to call their own. Initially, he started work as a tangewala (horse-cart puller) but soon his family gathered enough resources to open a spice shop in Karol Bagh’s Ajmal Khan Road. Business slowly thrived and Gulati now has over 18 factories in India and Dubai with MDH spices distributed across the world. The company sells 62 products and claims 80% market share in north India. Even though he turns 96 in less than two months, Gulati visits at least one factory whether in Delhi or adjoining Faridabad or Gurgaon every day. His six daughters and a son help him to run the masala empire he’s built.
Gulati says the secret to his long life is his spartan diet and regular exercise. " Main bhudha nahi, jawan hoon (I am still young)," he says, flexing his muscles and opening his mouth to show his pearly whites. He is up at 4am every morning to walk at Nehru Park, followed with yoga and a frugal breakfast. He also walks in the evening and at night after dinner, and keeps himself updated with news on his phone and checks WhatsApp regularly.
He still loves the limelight of course. Nearly every inch of the wall at MDH House in west Delhi’s Kirti Nagar Industrial area is covered with his beaming face whether it is pictures encased in shiny gold frames, calendars, large cut-outs and even a clock that traces his life through pictures.
Acting in his own TV commercial happened by accident when the actor slotted to play the bride’s father failed to turn up. "When the director suggested I act as the father I thought this would save some money, so I agreed," Gulati recounts. There was no turning back. Gulati has been part of all MDH TV commercials since. Evidently, India can’t seem to get enough of Dadaji and his deghi mirch.
