Interview with Mr Gul Muhammad Lot – Chairman, Mehran Spice & Food Industries
PAGE: Tell me something about yourself and your organization, please:
Gul Muhammad Lot: I was born in Pakistan in the Diplo area of Thar District in Sindh. At a very young age, I have joined my Father, (late) Mr. Ghullam Muhammad Lot in his business. As far as education, I have completed my bachelors in administration from the London School of Business and obtain master’s degree in political science from the University of Sindh, Hyderabad. I served as politician career as well and leave senate in 2015.
I, the Chairman of M/s. Mehran Spice & Food Industries started its journey in 1975 and within few years of its inception, the company grew to become one of the leading spice & food industries globally. At the moment we are exporting more than 50 countries worldwide. Mehran is a world leader in quality rice, equipped with the most advanced rice plant from Germany.
We entered in local market in year 2011 and within few years, Mehran has captured major share in local market. From continuous last three years the local sales growth of Mehran Spice & Food Industries is increasing upto 50% and the growth of export sales are also increasing many folds. Being the Chairman of Mehran, we are forecasting in the next few years we will achieve higher growth as compare to previous years and gain more share in worldwide market.
Mehran Spice & Food Industries is an ISO 9001 & ISO 22000 certified leader in the quality food business. Our mission is to be a consumer oriented company with a keen insight of food products ensuring quality, consistency and an authentic taste, backup with state of the art technology to obtain optimum result.
Mehran Spice & Food Industries have been honored many national and international awards:
- Best Exporter Award from FPCCI (since past 37 years)
- Presidential Award (Twice)
- Prime Minister Award (Twice)
- Business Man of the year Award (since last continuous 4 year)
In preceding years Covid-19 had damaged economy and the world has been shaken but after Covid pandemic we are seeing economy is growing rapidly. In food sector we never feel impact of Covid because food is necessary item and we witness the boom in both export and local sales as compare to previous years due to brand awareness in new generation and the quality and taste of Mehran products are improving due to continuous sensory of products at different locations. Mehran’s QC team (of more than 50 staff members) is continuously striving to ensure Mehran quality in domestic and international market by providing quality products and innovation in packaging designs.
PAGE: What was your strategy when you thought of launching Mehran?
Gul Muhammad Lot: The core purpose of senior management is to provide best quality products to customers by procurement of pure and natural raw materials around the globe and it is the key of our success. Therefore Mehran’s name is famous globally, we do not compromise on quality.
Our purpose was to provide premium food products to meet the best interest of customers. Our spices and mix blends are made from superior quality raw materials and processed untouched by hand ensuring natural flavor and aroma. We care to create a strong reputation in food industry by providing quality, innovative, authentic, ethnic, culinary and gourmet range of food products. We emphasize on marketing through a customer centric approach and try to create awareness in the mind of customers.
PAGE: Could you tell us about the popular products of Mehran?
Gul Muhammad Lot: Mehran food is a global food brand offering premium quality innovative food products, which delight our customers. As the pioneer in the spice mixes and other food range, we ensure that our products are not just convenient and easy to prepare but also deliver on the flavor, traditional taste and aroma that our consumers love and cherish. We work tirelessly to bring the best food solutions to our valued consumers, looking internally and externally for new ideas, trends and improvements to deliver a superior product experience.
It is very difficult to select most popular Mehran’s product because a single bite of Mehran products can activate the part of your brain and drive your hunger for more; some products range of Mehran as under:
Biryani Masala:
Mehran Biryani Mix has a perfect blend of rich and aromatic spices which helps you in preparing the perfect twist of Biryani at home with the delicious taste for an ultimate food experience.
Curry Range:
Mehran Curry range is specially made by love of taste experts, using aromatic spices and the finest ingredients in exactly the right measure.
Pickle:
Mehran’s has the perfect range of pickles that has used natural and pure raw materials including mango, lemon, carrot, etc. with a blend of zesty spices which is the perfect accompaniment to everyday meals.
Mehran is serving their customers with progressive, healthy, and tasty pickles, and many other similar products considering the growing needs of both domestic and international market.
Sauces:
Mehran sauces have been launched two years ago and we got a massive response internationally. It is a condiment that adds spice and flavours to anything from Asian recipes to Western favourites. It can be used as a wonderful dip for steak and savoury of all kinds or a side sauce to add more taste to food.
PAGE: Mehran has become one of the leading brands. How difficult was it to stand out in the crowd?
Gul Muhammad Lot: Mehran today stands out as the major exporter of premium quality packaged spices, recipe mixes, ketchup, sauces, paste, rice, pickles and desserts with products adding taste and flavors to meals across countries. Today Mehran has its consumers in every single part of the country and with Pakistani people largely fond of eating it further adds to their success story.
Mehran believes in delivering the highest standards of quality and safety when it comes to our food products. Special care is taken while testing processed food, unprocessed food and all raw materials. Raw materials inspection, fumigation and testing to ensure that all international standards are being met.
At Mehran, quality is our religion. We strive to set our quality operations as a benchmark for the industry at large. Our mission is to provide our consumers with supreme standards of product quality, safety and consistency. Our Quality Control department regularly monitors the different phases from purchase of raw material to research & development to packaging and distribution while conforming to national and international regulation and legislation. This ensures highest quality at each stage of production for our consumers to safely enjoy our food products.
Mehran, products across all categories are manufactured, packed, stored and transported under the most hygienic conditions while maintaining international quality standards. This is made possible through regular quality checks and audits involving rigorous inspection of all products as per international best practices.
We have been participating in many exhibitions around the world. Recently we received excellent response from customers and distributors in Anuga, Gulf Food, IFE London and specially from the new generations who try and like our products.
PAGE: Are Pakistani brands able to penetrate the foreign markets through soaring export?
Gul Muhammad Lot: Mehran has a strong distribution network and captured larger market share by its wide product range. We adopted some innovative strategies to penetrate between domestic and international markets.
Pakistan’s textile sector is bringing cheer to its flailing economy, with exports set to swell to a record after gaining an edge over South Asian rivals during the pandemic. Pakistan’s textile export has gone up in USA and around the world as compare to previous years.
Mehran Group, a thought which was started in 70s, spread across the globe to share the true taste of traditional foods via our premium quality spices, receipe mixes, sauces, pickles, desserts & rice.
Today, Mehran Group is continuing its business operations in more than 50 countries globally.
PAGE: How much role does the tagline of a brand play in the sales of a product?
Gul Muhammad Lot: Tagline of a brand plays a vital role in the sales of products. The catchy tagline attracts to new customers as Mehran tag lines are:
- “Complete Cooking Experience”,
- “Special Khana Rozana”, and
- “Honar Dilon Pe Raj Karne Ka”
Mehran being the key player exploits advertising through TV, Radio and print media (including magazines and newspapers’ ads). A focus on each of these is important, but the digital & social media marketing is more important now than ever. It is important because it connects a business with its customers when they are online & is effective for all industries. In addition, Mehran is sponsoring various cooking shows, that helped the company gain access to untapped markets in Pakistan and the unique feature of highlighting Pakistani cuisine did support the Mehran’s brand building process.