It has been an uphill task for Shafat Shah, who against all odds decided to establish Zum Zum Milk Products factory. Having no educational qualifications to show in his CV, Shah only had determination and zeal to work that kept him going.
“I am a restless soul and that is what I believe every businessman in Kashmir must be,” says Shah in a cheerful mood in his sprawling office in the uptown area of Hyderpora.
Having the ambition to start a new business, he was fascinated by a milk plant during his Mumbai visit decades ago. Since then, the thought of starting a milk factory was in his mind. Toying with the idea, his visit to JKSIDCO office proved beneficial in setting up a plant.
“Those days SIDCO was an incubation centre for entrepreneurs in a real sense,” says Shafat, with a smile on his face stating that they used to give ideas and project reports to budding entrepreneurs, which is not the case now.
“I took up the challenge of setting up a milk brand in Kashmir which almost everyone suggested could be a failure. But I worked hard on my idea and had faith in Allah,” he says. In 2008, Zum Zum Milk Processing Plant at Industrial Growth Centre, Lassipora, Pulwama was established.
“Beginning was bad, as is the case with most of the startups. I thought my business will click on the first day but that was not the case. I could procure only 240 litres of milk from a nearby village that was a disappointment, the second day there was no procurement,” he says.
“But I was committed, I used to leave at 5 O’clock in the morning and visit nearby villages for procuring milk. I used to start from 5 am to 10 pm,” he says, adding that currently, his factory supplies 20,000 litres to 30,000 litres of milk daily to the market in Kashmir.
“But for achieving these numbers, I had to work hard. Initially, when I started the operations of Zum Zum there was a shortage of milk as farmers were not ready to sell milk to us. So in order to encourage them, we established cooperative societies and created awareness,” he says. “Our aim is to provide remunerative returns to the farmers and also serve the interest of consumers by providing affordable quality products.”
He says it has been always endeavour of Zum Zum right from its inception to ensure that the producers and farmers receive the remunerative price for their milk and other products. The milk, which is collected from various parts of the valley, particularly from Pulwama, Shopian, Anantnag, Kulgam and Budgam, is transported to Zum Zum processing unit where it is standardised, pasteurised, homogenised and then packed before being dispatched to the markets for sale. And all this process is controlled by the renowned and world-famous semi-automatic technology so as to market the most hygienically processed and quality products, he says. Besides, a well-equipped quality control laboratory has been set up within the plant to ensure quality product supply to the market.
“There is a total misconception among people that packaged milk is not safe for consumption. We follow all the standard procedures and tests, only then the milk is supplied to the market,” claims Shafat. “Zum Zum Milk is fresh and pure cow milk processed and packed in hygienic conditions. The milk processing includes pasteurisation and homogenization.”
Having tasted success in the dairy sector, Shah has ventured into hospitality sector by starting a high-end hotel Heritage Inn on Airport Road in Hyderpora. “As I told you that I am restless soul, I work 363 days in a year, only Eid days are my holidays. After milk factory, I ventured into hospitality sector as part of the diversification of my business. I have started this hotel last year and it has been a good response.”
“The only problem is the negative perception created by the certain media outlets. Otherwise, no tourist would complain about the hospitality of Kashmir. But the irony is that there are certain vested elements that are hell-bent in destroying Kashmir’s hospitality sector.
Apart from the hotel, Shah has also established a bread-manufacturing unit at Lassipora.
His advice to entrepreneurs is thinking positive and work harder to achieve their goals in life.
Source : http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/opinion/milking-success/287266.html
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