Dining Table Idea To Rs 450 Crore Business, How Two Brothers Built Nilon's

What started as a small family business eventually grew into a company with three factories in Jalgaon and exports to around 30 countries.

Nilon's, one of India's well-known pickle and food brands, began in 1962 with two brothers, Suresh and Prafful Sanghavi, experimenting with food products on their dining table in Utran village in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. What started as a small family business eventually grew into a company with three factories in Jalgaon and exports to around 30 countries.

The brothers came from a family that already had experience in food processing. Their family owned around 1,500 acres of lemon orchards and had earlier produced cordial, lemon syrup and lemon juice for the British and Indian armies during World War II. These products were also exported, according to Better India.

The family lost more than 90% of its land after the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961, introduced restrictions on land holdings. The family continued farming on the land that remained, but Suresh and Prafful began looking for another business opportunity.

Suresh had completed his graduation in agriculture in 1962. His elder brother Prafful, who could not pursue higher education after their father's untimely death, suggested that Suresh use his knowledge of agriculture for food processing.

The two brothers then turned their home into their first laboratory. They sourced fresh produce and started experimenting with different food products. Suresh initially made squashes from fruits such as pineapple, mulberry and mango. The brothers later moved into products such as jams, jellies and ketchup.

They decided to sell these products under the name Nilon's. The name was inspired by nylon, which was gaining popularity at the time as a new man-made fibre.

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But the business did not take off immediately. The brothers filled their car with their products and travelled around looking for customers. The response was poor. 

According to Dipak Sanghavi, Suresh's son and the company's managing director and CEO, his father developed nearly 50 products over the next four years in the hope that some of them would succeed.

By 1965, the business had suffered years of losses. Prafful even asked Suresh whether they should shut it down. But Suresh refused to give up. He believed that the money invested in the business would have to be recovered from the same business.

The turning point came in 1966 when Nilon's started making pickles. At the time, the government invited tenders for supplying products to military canteens. The brothers applied for contracts for four pickle varieties such as chilli, mango, mixed and lemon. They won all four contracts.

The brothers had never operated a large factory and suddenly needed to build a 7,000-square-foot manufacturing unit. They took loans, built the plant and began producing pickles on a larger scale. By 1969-70, pickles accounted for around 95% of Nilon's total sales.

The brand also became popular among military families. Many defence personnel and their families remember eating Nilon's pickles during postings in different parts of India. The company continues to supply pickles to the defence forces.

Nilon's later found success with another product, which is tutti-frutti. The product was made from candied papaya and was still new in India at the time. A Gujarat-based distributor named Mansukhbhai once visited Nilon's factory and saw a sample of the product. The product had not even been launched yet. But he decided to try selling it through paan shops in Gujarat.

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It became popular during the 1970s and later became a common ingredient in bakery and dessert products. 

When Suresh died, Deepak then took over the business. In 2004, Nilon's appointed Rajheev Agrawal as its CEO and the company grew from a business with a turnover of around Rs 8 crore to around Rs 450 crore, according to Dipak.

Nilon's was mainly known as a pickle brand. So it started adding more products to its range. These included pasta sauce, pasta masala, Szechuan chutney, sauces and ginger-garlic paste. 

The change was also linked to changing food habits in India. People were eating more Chinese and continental food, while pickles were becoming less important as an accompaniment.

From two brothers making and testing food products on their dining table, Nilon's journey has come a long way.

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