Harish Kumarlal Tahliani
Strapline: A global leader in the pulses and spice industry from the UAE and home of the leading flagship brand 777, Harish Kumarlal Tahliani’s journey to greatness is nothing short of an inspiration
: The scent of a myriad of spices is hard to miss while walking through the enormous spice and pulses processing factory of Arab & India Spices LLC. Nestled in the heart of Ajman’s industrial area, it is hard to believe that this is home to the Middle East’s oldest and largest processing plant for beans and peas, nuts, pulses, rice, seeds, spice powder, whole spices, and other F&B products. Seated in the crux of the empire, the modest and affable Harish Kumarlal Tahliani has a very simple business fundamental that led to his enormous success.
“You need to provide people with quality, you need to stick to your commitment, and you need to be timely with the delivery of your service,” says Harish, without blinking an eyelid. “We had challenges, no doubt. There was a time when we couldn’t afford to pay the bills and the banks refused to give us credit, however, we pulled through and that is only because we stayed on our commitment to deliver,” he says.
Established in 1986, Arab India Spices LLC is a pioneer of the ever-increasing global agriculture trade. Shortly after its inception two decades ago, Arab & India Spices became one of the first millers that catered to the entire Middle East with a wide variety of high-quality pulses and ground spices. Starting out with a daily production output of 5 metric tonnes per day, the company bolstered its wings and today, the processing plant in Ajman has a production output of 700 metric tonnes per day. However, things weren’t always easy for the businessman. Here is the story of his humble beginnings.
“We had a humble start; a group of family members got together to open a small grinding mill in 1947 in India,” says Harish. “Several generations of our family has been into the business of processing and trading pulses and spices. However, our venture into the Middle East started when my late father Kumar Lal Megharaj Tahiliani, who arrived at the UAE to check if the business had any potential,” he adds.
“My aunt moved here in the 1980’s after her marriage and that’s what encouraged him to visit Dubai. At one point, my father had to relinquish his control over the business to his younger brothers and that further encouraged him to set-up shop in UAE. The market was completely devoid of a spice and pulses processing and trading company and he saw that as a very big opportunity,” he adds.
The Indian company was re-established as Arab & India Spices in the year 1986 in a 400 square feet facility in Sharjah with 4 people and the company mainly imported spices from India. He remembers his father importing unprocessed moong dal (mung bean) and several containers of spices, processing, packaging, and then distributing it to local markets. AIS
“In 1990, we shifted our base to Ajman; wherein we purchased the land in our name so that we could save on rent. I remember that we made our investment during the time of Kuwait’s war with Iraq… It was an uncertain time and many people left the country in fear. But we stuck on and decided that the risk we’re taking will be worth it. And today, I can proudly say that it was,” he adds. Harish was pulled into the family business at the age of 22.
“I had to give up my studies to help my father grow the business. I would visit with relatives often, but even my father was shuttling between the businesses in India and UAE and was worried that he would loose the business here. I officially took charge in 1994,” he adds. When Harish took over, the business was suffering due to bad decisions that were taken by a former partner; and after several months’ paper work and running in and out of government offices, Harish finally took complete control over the business. At this phase, the company had garnered a poor reputation and Harish had to work overtime to rectify that.
“Going back to what I’d said earlier, as I didn’t have support from banks or any kind of financial institutions, I had to work double harder than ever before to build the company reputation after a few months of struggle, we eventually broke even and since then there has been no looking back,” he said. An immense driving factor for the businessman was that his father had built this Mini Empire of spices, which he had to build and protect.
“I refused to let my father’s legacy be forgotten. He’d worked his entire life for this and there was no way that I was going to just let it all go to waste. I regained the trust of employees, customers, and bankers over time and began focusing on providing maximum quality in minimum time,” he adds.
The company has grown from strength to strength and today it is an empire of spices and pulses, being one of the largest importers in the Middle East sourcing raw pulses from most of the major pulses producing countries like Myanmar, Australia, Canada, USA, China, UK, and India. “Our company mainly produces masoor dal (red-split lentils), chana dal (baby chickpeas), moong dal, urad dal (black gram) and toor dal (pigeon pea),” he adds.
The spices are mainly procured from India, China, Sri Lanka and Vietnam and spices and pulses imported from various countries are packed and sold in the UAE and other countries. Arab & India Spices owns three major rice brands including 777, Ameera and Nallari. These products are re-exported to various countries from Ajman and the company does contract production for various global brands as well.
“Apart from catering to the needs of UAE market, our company’s supply chain covers other countries in the GCC. We also supply foodstuff to select customers in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and Far Eastern market and this is a segment we are focusing on expanding,” says Harish. The company also has satellite offices in several countries for the procurement of food items. Currently, the company employs more than 600 staff in the UAE and the company’s skilled workers and quality control staff work to meet the most sophisticated specifications for all types of processing requirements, at the same time, the company’s strength in sourcing ensures the steady supply of quality pulses and spices.
Arab & India Spices were awarded the ISO 22000, an international standard that defines requirements for a good safety management system covering all organisations in the food chain. In December 2011, Arab & India Spices was awarded the esteemed SME award and became the first company from the food stuff industry to be presented with such a distinguished accolade.
Harish has also been recognised in the list of Top Indian Leaders in the Arab World 2015 by Forbes Middle East for the soaring success of Arab & India Spices. Another major achievement was when Arab India Spices recently received two bulk vessels carrying 6,200 tonnes and 10,000 tonnes of pulses from Canada, one of the largest shipments of its kind.
However, the shining glory of achievement came in 2016, when the company opened the Middle East’s largest food production facility in Ajman. At the time of its launch, the empire of spices eyed an annual turnover of AED 1 billion starting from 2016 with the expansion of its production facility, which now spans over 400,000 square feet, with an investment of AED 350 million. The entire factory premises of AIS now covers an area of over 400,000 square feet, where the production plant has the capacity to process additional 36,000 tons of lentils annually. With the expansion of its production facility, AIS eyes an annual turnover of AED 1 billion starting from 2016.
“I think our greatest victory is that we supply quality products at competitive prices, timely shipments and excellent service offered through our offices, warehouses, factories, farms, sourcing system and processing units across the globe. The quality of our food products and the price range we offer to consumers are the reasons for our constant growth and success in the market,” he says. Speaking about his future plans, Harish revealed that he plans on bringing massive Indian F&B consumer brands into the region.
Harish’s wife Vidhiya Tahliani now plays a significant role in the growth and development of the 70-year- old company. Vidhiya has been married to the ‘Spice Emperor’ of the Middle East for 20 years and is every bit his backbone of support in the business and life. Born in the city of Nadiyad in Gujarat, Vidhiya initially took a backseat in the business to focus on raising her children. “We have three kids and once they got old enough, and with Harish’s encouragement and guidance, I’ve been contributing to the company for about two and a half years ago,” she says.
She is actively involved in the sales summary, the organisation of the weekly and monthly business meetings, petty purchases, marketing and several other departments in the business. “I find the work here fascinating,” she adds. “It is very interesting for me to see and work on the implementation of global standards of quality control measures to maintain safety and value of the foodstuffs that is produced in our facility and supplied across the region,” she says. Harish’s three children are aged 18 and 14 respectively.
