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Sometimes back in 2001, one busy
afternoon, Rajnikant Kothari was sitting in his office when he
received a phone call from somewhere abroad, “Is this K.K. Cans?”
the person asked and when Rajnikant Kothari confirmed, the caller
said, “I have got your number from Atlantic International, Denmark.
I need the Milk Cans for a firm in Jordan.” A real surprise for
Rajnikant Kothari, a company in Denmark that was once a pioneer in
manufacturing Milk Cans is referring his name to others; he was not
only surprised but pleased as well. A successful man is he now!
Rajnikant Kothari tasted the fruit of
success, but not before he underwent some very hard times in his
early life. Migrating from Gujarat, Rajnikant Kothari started
supporting his father in his food grain shop. Very ambitious from
the childhood itself, Rajnikant Bhai, as people used to call this
wonderful man lovingly, struggled hard but bravely faced the tough
times with his father. Although fully involved in the small
food-grain business, he always intended to do something big, “Kuch
karne ki iccha thi mun mein”, says Rajnikant Bhai and adds,
“Encounters with big people added fire to this desire. I was lucky
to get the support from many people that helped me in strolling
towards the landmark success. Akalmandon Ka Saath Milne Se Kaam
Aasan Ho Jata Hai.”
And one day an idea struck into his
mind to start manufacturing Milk Cans. Not a big deal, many had pooh
poohed the idea then. Still he was firm and firmly, he started
working for the success of his dream venture.
At the same time the Government was
planning to set up MIDC area in Jalgaon. The area, which was
supposed to provide the facilities to emerging Industries on low
cost and subsidized rates, was still under developing stage.
Rajnikant Bhai somehow managed to purchase a plot there at MIDC. In
fact he was the first to do so. The MIDC area being located miles
away from the actual city and no telephone lines being into an
existence, it was a complete helplessness if one wanted to
communicate to anyone.
Interestingly, when he failed to get
appropriate machinery for his project as well in the market, he
arranged the indigenous spare parts from here and there and
assembled the machinery by his own. At last, he succeeded in
manufacturing aluminum milk cans by 1975 and started selling them in
the local market. The quality and the reasonable rates attracted the
whole market immediately. K.K. Cans became a trusted brand in the
industry. Reliance, NDDB (National Dairy Development Board), Nestle,
Hudson Foods and you continue with the list, whoever was there in
the milk industry, switched to K. K. Milk Cans.
And then came one more turn. In 1981,
Rajnikant Bhai received the first export inquiry from Indonesia.
“They did not have any problem with the quality of my cans”,
Rajnikant Bhai recalled, “Instead, they wanted to have a look of our
set up before placing the orders. They just wanted to check weather
we are capable of fulfilling the volume or not”, he added. To do
this, P.T. Globe Pvt. Ltd., Indonesia visited his plant in Jalgaon.
“And the deal was finalized in one sitting. Since then from 1981,
K.K. Cans is supplying milk cans to P.T. Globe Indonesia”, proudly
recalled Rajnikant Bhai. For Rajnikant Bhai, exporting to P.T.
Globe, Indonesia proved just a beginning. No looking back from then
and K.K. Cans is now exporting milk cans and other milk industry
products to more than thirty countries located in Far East Asia,
Middle East, Africa, Europe and South America.
As if all these landmarks achievements
were not sufficient to eradicate the competitions, the entry of the
young bloods from his family into the business gave further boost.
Amit, Prashant and Adarsh, the legatees of Kothari clan have really
given a new dimension to their father’s business. “Value addition to
the existing product line” is how Amit Kothari is describing his
action-plan.
And now K.K. Cans is manufacturing a
wide range of products that are used in milk industry including Bulk
Milk Coolers, Milk Plunger, Sampler, Milk Measures, Funnel with
Filters, Milk Collection Tray and Dairy Detergent and of course, a
totally new kind of quality Milk Cans, far better than what they
were producing twenty-five years before.
Moreover, as a final blow to any
competition, they are now all set to go into a joint venture with a
European Enterprise in couple of days from now, a timely move, which
certainly would take K.K. Cans to new heights.
(Jalgoan ICONS, The Times of India)
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