Hyderabad: Sweet smell of sugar and essence envelopes the old Kurnool Road as we drive to Kattedan on the outskirts. And rightly so — the area has many biscuit manufacturers and confectioners, including Ravi Foods Private Limited, one of the big players in the segment.

The Hyderabad-grown company is also the contract manufacturer for many big brands. Founded in 1995, Ravi Foods makes biscuits, wafers, chocolates and confectionaries under the brand Dukes. While Dukes is present across segments, Waffy (wafers) has grown into a flagship brand for the company, contributing significantly to volumes as well as value. Waffy, with about 80 per cent share, is the market leader across modern trade. It is also a strong player in biscuits category, exporting to more than 50 countries.

Dukes was awarded the World’s 100 Greatest Brands 2017-18 Asia & GCC award at the fourth edition of India – UAE Business and Social Forum 2018, organised by AsiaOne Magazine and United Research Services Media Consulting. It saw participation of diplomats, businessmen, social leaders and entrepreneurs from Japan, Mexico, Montenegro, Macedonia, India, UAE, Qatar and Singapore.

“We attribute this success to our team without whose contribution Dukes would not have been what it is today. We are looking to move with the same enthusiasm to take our business to the next level,” says Ravinder Agarwal, Managing Director.

“We have scaled our operations in anticipation of demand from Indian and international markets. We have manufacturing units equipped with world-class infrastructure,” he says.

With over 25 years of experience across businesses, Agarwal has played a key role in setting up of Abhedya Industrie, Viren Shelters and Omega Shelters.

The family business is now on a transformation path. It has brought in many professionals from the FMCG sector to ensure that good work done so far translates into bigger gains for the company. It has a turnover of Rs 1,500 crore with exports bringing in Rs 400-450 crore.