He Sells 10 Lakh Kilos of Oil Every Day!

Company / market overview

• Nathwani (Gulab Boys) is positioned as one of India’s biggest edible oil players in groundnut oil.
• Core story:
  • The business was started by the father in 1992.
  • The brand emphasizes “pure as it is from the farms directly.”
• Business scale mentioned:
  • 10 lakh kg (1 million kg) of oil sold per day
  • The “Rose” brand crossed ₹3,000 crore (noted as “just last year”)
  • Growth claim:
    • Joined the business when it was ₹300 crore
    • Became ₹3,000 crore (approx 10x growth)

Brand portfolio & positioning (products/brands)

Owned/operated brands cited:

• Gulab / Rose Oils (brand mentioned as “Rose” / “Gulabgnes”)
• True Story (organic brand)
• Gorri (skin care brand)

Highlighted category/innovation:

• Cold press is called out as a key focus area (explained later in the case study).

Distribution & go-to-market expansion

• Geographic footprint:
  • The company is “from Gujarat,” with strong western presence.
• Expansion through quick commerce:
  • Reached 12+ states
  • 100+ cities
• GTM evolution for growth:
  • Built online demand channels:
    • Launched on Amazon
    • Created its own D2C website
  • Later scaled using quick commerce to improve reach and availability for premium products.

Business strategy frameworks / playbooks implied

Premium-quality differentiation + category expansion

• “Consumer is everything”
• Product promise:
  • Purity first—quality must be “best,” not merely “good.”

Market fit via channel and pricing experimentation

• For cold press, they had to find a consumer segment willing to pay a premium.

Experimentation cycle (try → measure → iterate/close)

• “Failure is a part of the process”
• If expenses are high, they must be monitored.
• Avoid abruptly shutting everything—learn and adapt.

Organizational structure to avoid internal rivalry

• Shift from:
  • “competing teams”
  • to “complementary teams”
• Older generation: stability
• Newer team: speed, digital focus, and new market expansion

Decision-making doctrine

• “Speed is everything”
• Decide faster, learn continuously, and aim to be correct most of the time (“7–8 times on the correct side”).

Key operational / product execution details

Cold press “how it works” (high-level)

• Peanuts are crushed and kept around ~40°C (temperature controlled, not above).
• Oil is extracted, lightly filtered, and packed directly.
• Claimed outcomes:
  • “Nutty flavor”
  • Purity “from farms directly”

Factory / quality assurance

• Visitors/consumers can be invited to check the factory.
• The speaker suggests openness to verification after ~30 years of operations.

Concrete case study: Cold press launch (pricing + channel sequencing)

Pricing decision

• Launch target: ₹350 per litre for cold press groundnut oil.
• Family resistance:
  • “everyone refused… ‘he has gone mad’”
  • Belief that such a premium wouldn’t sell.

Timeline outcome

• Nothing sold for 6 months after the premium launch.

Fix / iteration

• After the initial stall, they:
  • Started selling on Amazon
  • Built their own D2C site
  • Later leveraged quick commerce once the environment matured

Market-fit insight emphasized

• Gujarat wasn’t yet consuming oil at ₹350/kg (or per litre equivalent context).
• However, an online market existed for press/cold-press oil.
• They found “conscious consumers” online first, then scaled via quick commerce.

Growth leadership & organizational tactics

Managing family-business dynamics

• Biggest challenge: internal organizational conflict (first within family, then with older team members).
• Need to earn respect:
  • First from family
  • Then from the team

Second-generation gaps they addressed

• “not doing branding”
• “not paying attention to the supply chain”
• “not opening new cities”

Approach

• Acknowledge and compliment the first generation’s strengths to build trust.
• Implement new initiatives (branding, supply chain, city expansion) with a culture of complementarity instead of competition.

Marketing & sales tactics mentioned

• Channel sequencing:
  • Amazon → D2C website → quick commerce
• Premium pricing rationale:
  • Consumers accept paying extra (described generally as “₹2 extra”) when quick commerce and premium positioning are aligned.
• Identity preservation:
  • “we will only provide quality products”—avoid changing the brand promise.

Metrics & KPIs explicitly stated (or strongly implied)

• Volume:
  • 10 lakh kg/day
• Revenue/valuation:
  • Business growth: ₹300 crore → ₹3,000 crore
  • “Rose” brand: ₹3,000 crore (“just last year”)
• Growth:
  • Claimed 10x growth
• Expansion:
  • 12+ states, 100+ cities
• Cold press execution:
  • 0 sales for 6 months after premium pricing
• Pricing anchor:
  • Cold press groundnut oil at ₹350 per litre

Actionable recommendations for entrepreneurs (execution-oriented)

• Prioritize execution over ideas
  • “Pay attention to execution. If you are getting ideas then implement them.”
• Speed in decision-making
  • Make decisions quickly and improve based on outcomes.
• Build growth through distribution experiments
  • Launch → test via channels (Amazon/D2C/quick commerce) → scale once the right segment is found.
• Learn without panic
  • Failures are part of the process; monitor high expenses; don’t shut down everything—extract learning.

Startup investing (high-level only)

• The speaker mentions investing:
  • Invested in three startups from Gujarat
  • Open to evaluating audience startups and asks them to reach out (implies founder-to-investor relationship building rather than market discussion).

Presenters / sources

• Nathwani (speaker; from “Gulab Boys”)
• Legacy/business comparison mentions:
  • Mukesh Nathwani (father)
  • Dhirubhai Ambani
  • Anil Ambani
  • Mukesh Ambani