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Amit Soni set up RD'z 1983 bakery in Jodhpur in November 2018
After completing his MBA in 2009, Amit Soni got a job as a factory manager in a bakery. But unlike other factories, it was a crumbling structure using wood-based traditional ovens and the owners wanted to revamp the set-up. Though Amit was reluctant to work with labourers fresh out of business school and was keen on a corporate role, the owners convinced him to try it.
“They asked me to visit factories of Britannia, Parle-G, Unibic and other biscuit brands, which helped me understand the bakery business,” Amit tells 30Stades.
He revamped the bakery, working on purchasing, stocking, and sourcing materials. “It turned into a semi-automatic setup and moved to eggless products. From 2009 to 2016, I worked on all business aspects, including packaging and marketing. However, by then I was drawn towards entrepreneurship and wanted to be on my own,” says Amit, who belongs to a family of goldsmiths.
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Learning the skills
The factory owners took almost ten months to relieve him and after that, Amit spent nearly a year learning about baking and cooking.
“From 2017 to 2018, I took multiple courses, including the bakery chef course from IHM, Mumbai, and three courses for two months each from Skill India. These courses gave me hands-on training as I had worked in a managerial role earlier,” the millet entrepreneur says.
On November 12, 2018, he set up his bakery RD’z 1983, using the initials of his father Ramesh, mother Durga and their wedding year – 1983.
Today, he sells six types of pearl millet cookies and four types of millet chivdas to over 105 hotels across India apart from retailing online at Amazon and Meesho.
He also exports cookies to Bahrain and Dubai and sample testing for them is currently underway in Germany, the UK and other countries.
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Millets are a good source of protein, fibre, and vitamin B. They also contain minerals like calcium, iron, and zinc and have antioxidants, making them a food of choice for health-conscious people. “We use pure butter, good quality dry fruits and other ingredients and do not add preservatives or artificial colours. This has helped us reach customers who value quality and consistency,” Amit says.
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RD’z had a turnover of Rs1 crore from its millet food products in FY24.
“We forecast the turnover to reach Rs1.5 crore this year. We are setting up a new factory in Jodhpur and expect the turnover to hit Rs20 crore by FY27,” Amit says.
The new factory, with an investment of around Rs1 crore, will have a higher capacity and the provision to expand the product range. RD’z cookies are served in mini bars of 105 hotels (5,500 rooms) of The Fern Hotels and Resorts across India. Its millet cookies are also available in top hotels in Rajasthan. “The demand is increasing and we hope the new factory will be able to meet it,” Amit adds.
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From the beginning
“We began with cakes in November 2018, and the first major order came in December that year from the Jodhpur-based Lucky Group of Studies. It was a 151 kg cake with 5.5 feet height. The cake became a hit on social media, and we were flooded with corporate orders,” he recalls.
With rising revenues, he set up three more outlets in Jodhpur.
“But COVID-19 led to losses, and in 2020, our three outlets had to be closed. During the pandemic, we survived by making bread for AIIMS and the Police Department,” he says.
Alongside, Amit continued his work of training rural women to prepare sweets and savouries and become micro-entrepreneurs. “Since 2010, I have been involved in training women with CSR funding support. When I started on enterprise, we continued to train women self-help groups (SHGs) while companies provided machines and equipment. I have trained nine SHGs in Nagor, Jhunjhunu, Jaisalmer and other places,” he says.
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This work got him in touch with other chefs and government officials. In 2022, he learned about PUSA, Delhi, promoting milled-based cakes, brownies, breads, cookies and other bakery products. “They ordered a millet cake on September 10, 2022. After 50 trials, we made a bajra (pearl millet) chocolate truffle cake. They selected the cake and ordered an 80 kg cake for delivery on December 19,” he recalls.
The world of millets and cookies
Millets opened a new world for Amit, and he realised the potential market among health-conscious buyers. Meeting with people in Delhi, he realised that cookies were a better bet than cakes because they had a longer shelf life, could be easily transported and were a daily snack item, unlike cakes, which are occasional.
“I started researching millet cookies. We conducted 96 trials, changing the percentage of various ingredients daily and taking feedback from customers who visited our bakery,” he says.
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After the trials, Amit sent samples to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority APEDA, which also promotes millet exports. “We sent pearl millet cookies in four flavours -- sesame, dry fruits, cumin (jeera) and carom (ajwain),” he says.
The samples were well received and there was no looking back. The next turning point was the Global Millet Exhibition in Delhi in 2023. “We participated in 41 events during 2023 and 24, including two overseas. These brought us in touch with big clients, and we began targeting mini bars in hotel rooms for our millet cookies,” Amit says.
Since then, RD’z journey of growth has continued. “The new factory will allow us to expand our product range as well as customer base,” he adds.
(US Anu is a Madurai-based writer. She specialises in stories around human interest, environment and art and culture.)
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