Section 37
How seven women built Lijjat on Rs 80
How do homemakers with almost no capital build a national food brand?
- case
- Success
- years
- 1959-2013
- ₹80
- Starting capital (borrowed) · 1959
- More than $200 million
- Annual sales · 2013
- More than 43,000
- Women working with Lijjat · 2013
- 01
The situation
On 15 March 1959, seven women from an old residential building in Girgaum, South Bombay, met on the building's terrace. They began on a borrowed sum of Rs 80 and their first production was four packets of papad.
- 02
The decision
They grew it as an organisation owned by the women who work in it. According to Al Jazeera's 2013 report, each branch is run in a decentralised way under a head chosen by consensus. The central office supplies flour to all branches and buys their output. About 2 per cent of profit covers organisational costs and the rest is paid to members three times a year. Samples are tested daily, and a batch that misses the standard is destroyed even at a loss.
- 03
The outcome
By 2013 Lijjat was India's largest-selling papad brand, with more than $200 million in sales and more than 43,000 women working with it across the country, as reported by Al Jazeera.