Suresh Kaneriya of Kaneriya Oil Industries believes that everytime you take a queen, you have to take a cover. And they have got Gujarat covered. Next stop: rest of India
(From left): Devang, Chirag, Ramesh and Suresh Kaneriya, partners, Kaneriya Oil Industries
Image: Mexy Xavier
Rajkot, Gujarat, 1979. Suresh Kaneriya started by explaining the rules of the game. There are nine black pieces, nine white pieces and one red piece. Whoever goes first has to break the circle in the middle of the board. “You cannot pocket the queen until you’ve pocketed at least one piece in your colour,” stressed Kaneriya, as he went about explaining the fundamentals of carrom to his younger brother Ramesh. Though the elder brother had mastered the game—he was called ‘Carrom King’ by his friends—the newcomer on the table was just getting ready to take the first shot. “Remember, you must flick the striker, and not push it,” underlined the third-generation entrepreneur who rolled out the Rani brand of groundnut edible oil along with his three brothers in 1979.
Some 215 km from Ahmedabad, the edible oil market in Rajkot was simmering with four big local players in 1979. “Groundnut oil was by default the only oil consumed. So back then, it was the biggest market,” recalls Suresh. His father and grandparents migrated from Lodhika village to Rajkot in the 60s. Along with a few relatives in the city, the Kaneriyas started an oil mill. Over a decade later, Suresh joined the business and opened a small shop in 1978. After 12 months of retailing oils, the 18-year-old thought of trying his luck and launched Rani.
The carrom king sensed a big opportunity. “It’s simple. I just have to smartly flick the striker and aim at the queen,” Suresh said to himself. The young entrepreneur could not be blamed for his gusto and haughtiness. The market, after all, was largely unorganised, and in spite of four strong local players, there was no clear winner in the business of groundnut oil. Suresh identified the pain points of the queens, aka homemakers. And there were many.
The biggest problem was adulteration. Another was lack of consistency in taste. One more sore point was grimy and soiled tins of 15 kilos. “The packs looked stained,” recounts Suresh, who positioned Rani as a superior brand of edible oil. “It was not only pure but also came in clean and shiny tins,” says the 62-year-old partner at Kaneriya Oil Industries. The brand was named Rani, he underlines, to make it appealing to homemakers. “We wanted to be the queen of the kitchen,” he says.
(This story appears in the 07 October, 2022 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)