Everest
Everest write-up:
Food is nourishment. Food is taste. Food is love. For over 50 years now, Everest has proudly partnered mothers in the kitchen in providing unparalleled taste through the food they cook for our families. Straddling through the diversity of our nation, Everest has dedicated itself to the fine art of creating local, regional and pan-Indian spice blends and pure spices that give our food the mouth-watering taste we want more of. With the ethos of – pure quality speaks for itself, today, brand Everest is synonymous with purity, taste and mother’s love. People say good health starts in the kitchen. And kitchens start with Everest, thanks to its unwavering dedication to quality.
Market
Post-Independence, the domestic market for spices also evolved into a hugely competitive, prismatic field. Spice trade in India has for centuries been under a wide gamut of preparation and distribution systems; those of unorganised and organised, unbranded and branded sectors, unprocessed and processed techniques and loose and packaged sales.
With the pressures of modern living, the luxury of buying and grinding spices at home to compliment age-old recipes has been replaced by packaged, easy to use pure and blended masalas. Traditional housewives have morphed into working mothers. From getting ready-made powdered spices, and now pre-packaged blends, the market has progressively made its preferences clear. E-commerce has greatly facilitated availability and has added to the traditional retail outlets such as hypermarkets, supermarkets and the neighbourhood grocery stores.
The Indian spice market is estimated to be growing at a CAGR of about 5% between 2021 and 2027. But at an estimated CAGR of 9%, the Indian packaged and blended spices market is showing tremendous growth, reflecting the modern consumers’ lifestyles.
The fragmented market and the changing taste preferences from region to region have posed tremendous hurdles for the spice industry. The eating-out culture has taken over and ready-to-eat food has become reasonably common. With such trends, establishing a national spice brand of repute is a huge challenge and developing an international presence even more so.
Everest is an exception, an aberration rather than the rule in the uneven spice market. It is India’s largest spice brand and commands the nation’s respect for consistent quality, purity, freshness and flavour.
Achievements
The real achievement lies in keeping age-old traditions alive while still maintaining their relevance in this modern world. Everest, with its understanding of the spice market and its diligent commitment to taste, has managed to keep alive the closely guarded family secrets of blends that were whispered down from generation to generation. With 52 years of untiring efforts to unravel the mysteries of grinding and blending, Everest has captured the market with a range of 50 of the freshest, purest and most authentic spices from different corners of India.
Today, Everest maintains its position as India’s largest selling spice brand. It holds the highest share in the national market, a fact confirmed by independent syndicated studies (AC Nielsen – All-India Store Audit Report 2020-21). Its spice factory uses state-of- the-art technology sourced internationally and blends up to 100 metric tonnes of spices each day.
To deliver the freshest, just-out-of-factory spices, Everest has developed a highly efficient clearing and forwarding agent-distributor-retailer-consumer distribution model. It has spent considerable time and effort in improving its distribution network so that the brand is on market shelves in the shortest possible time and available to millions of consumers regularly.
The unparalleled success of Everest has reaped several rewards. It has been the proud recipient of the Superbrands status eight times in regularity – in the years 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2021-22. Everest has yet again been recognized as one of India’s Iconic & Prestigious Brands by Economic Times in its 2021 edition.
History
Vadilal Shah’s business acumen and an acute understanding of the future gave him the impetus to bring Everest into being. The start was humble, the challenges were rigorous and the task was daunting; but his will to serve fresh fragrant spices and give flavour to every dish determined his will to overcome all challenges.
His prediction of the shift in people’s tastes and habits and the urge to experiment with different cuisines led him to discover near-forgotten culinary recipes that catered to the palates of different regions. He spent several years perfecting the blends till he was certain that people would accept blended spices from Everest as willingly as they had its pure spices.
In 1968, the city of Bombay (now Mumbai) witnessed the launch of Everest Kesari Milk Masala, Tea Masala and Garam Masala. As his enterprise grew and attained wide acceptance for pure spices so did his blends. Today, Everest has 45 varieties of spices and spice-blends in the market – each appreciated as the definitive taste provider of popular dishes across Indian households.
Product
Everest spices manufactures four categories of Spices which includes a range of Blended Spices such as Garam Masala, Chhole Masala, Pav Bhaji Masala, etc., Pure Spices such as Tikhalal Chilli Powder, Turmeric, Coriander, Asafoetida (Hing) and Exotic spices such as Kesari Milk Masala and Saffron. The basic ingredients are always sourced from regions where they are grown and are packaged in a way that allows them to retain their true flavour and aroma. To create blends, Everest invests extensively in researching traditional and varied cuisines, evaluating cultural preferences and quite simply following the evolution of changing tastes.
Years of consumer understanding programmes have been undertaken for extensively researching traditional cuisines, their closely guarded recipes and the masalas that give them their irresistible and authentic taste. This knowledge goes a long way in creating the unique blends that people find familiar, yet refreshingly new.
From the range of more than 28 products in Blended spices to the range of more than 12 products in Pure spices, Everest meets all the needs of Indian kitchens.
Recent Developments
India is young, India is dynamic and India wants to explore the world. Keeping this thought in mind Everest has launched range of herbs and seasoning products under the brand name, Tasteeto from the house of Everest. This new product series has been created to target the new age consumers that will allow them to create international cuisines right from their own kitchens.
This new journey begins with the introduction of a range of exciting products – Pasta Spice Mix, Pizza Spice Mix, Mixed Herbs, Oregano, Chilli Flakes, Cinnamon Powder, Black Pepper, Pink Salt & Pasta Masala Mix Spice.
Along with this, Everest has also ventured into Paste Category by launching Ginger Garlic Paste in the market.
Promotion
A forward-looking company always has its eyes on future business prospects, never losing sight of the current position. Vadilal Shah’s vision and guidance taken forward by his sons – Sanjeev Shah and Rajeev Shah – propelled Everest to be the largest spices brand in India and is now poised to take the taste of Everest to a global audience. TV commercials have established Everest offerings as the best and authentic in spices. To take the challenge of India’s regionally fragmented market head-on, Everest’s commercials promote regional spices and blends rather than the whole range. The mother-child relationship that is the backbone of the Indian family system has been highlighted in the commercials and helps strike an emotional bond with customers.
To improve its reach in rural areas, Everest has launched a last mile distribution initiative which gives the brand access to serve its consumers in the most remote areas.
To further strengthen its brand position, Everest is now a very visible player in the digital space, with recipe videos and posts capturing the imagination of many young foodies.
Everest being primarily a retail product is available in more than 10,00,000 outlets across the country. Everest has also an overwhelming presence amongst the Indian diaspora all over the world. In over 80 countries where Indians live, whenever they think of home-made food that they miss, they think of Everest – the taste that connects them to the memories of their motherland. Increasingly, with the soaring popularity of Indian cuisine, even non-Indians interested in experimenting with Indian cooking have constituted a solid base for the Everest brand – the taste being globally accepted as the most authentic Indian taste.
Ethnic Indian stores and chains all across the world vouch for the growing global popularity of Everest. And not just in traditional retail, Everest’s popularity is being felt across the globe with major e-grocery sites.
Brand Values
Fresh, pure and authentic define Everest spices the best. These are the factors that help any brand to enjoy a rising level of customer base every year. Consistency in providing the best blends and pure spices has allowed Everest to secure a place in the hearts of mothers. The aim of Everest is to help every mother feel more confident about her labour of love through her cooking.
Things you didn’t know about Everest
- Vadilal Shah, founder of Everest Masala, started his career in a 200 square feet shop
- Today, Everest spices are available in over 10,00,000 outlets
- Everest is India’s No. 1* spice brand
- Everest spices are processed in an ultra-modern, fully automated factory in Umbergaon, Gujarat
- Everest was the first spice company to introduce spices in small sachets
- The first product to be launched by Everest was Milk Masala