Food MArketing & Technology In India CC for web-HIgh Res | Page 54

Interview
CHRONICLING THE COURSE
OF ABK IMPORTS
Brothers Mr. Anand and Mr. Kushal Pittie, Directors of ABK Imports recently sat down with Ms. Priyanka Tanwar,
Editor of Creature Companion Magazine to discuss their company's journey in the last ten years; their motivation
for creating the startup; challenges faced while importing international brands and procuring distribution rights and
expansion plans for the future. Excerpts . . .
W
hat motivated you to
start this business?
Anand is a certifi ed canine behaviour
consultant and his knowledge of pets and
canine behaviour helped ABK to realise the
dearth of quality pet products available in
the market. Th is knowledge motivated us to
start a business focused on importing high
quality products with the aim of bridging
the gap between pets and their parents.
Also our big brother and mentor Mr. Bharat
Pittie guided us through the process of
importing and distribution when we started
our journey in the year 2010.
W
here is your startup based? What
are your geographical target
areas?
Our startup is based in our hometown
Pune, Maharashtra. Our target at present is
to make our products available in all grade
A cities across India.
S
hare the story behind the startup.
How did it come up?
It was March 2010 and Anand was in-
between jobs. He was to join as Sales Head
for a USA based robotics company from
April 2010. Kushal had just fi nished his
mechanical engineering and was working
in production department of Mercedes
Benz in Pune. Bharat was the Director at
Bharat International Pet Foods in Pune.
We had met for a family get together and
post lunch we were discussing work and
Anand was sharing with Bharat how he
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was going to join a new company in next
few weeks as Sales Head and that this
company was in the business of importing
robotic arms and fi xtures for specialised
applications. Aft er listening to this, Bharat
immediately quipped that what he was
doing for someone else he could do for
himself.
He further added that the Indian pet
industry was growing and there were no
major players selling high quality imported
pet accessories in the market. He suggested
that we could start a new company in which
we would import quality pet accessories
and sell them all across India. Kushal was
very inspired by this thought and jumped
on the opportunity off ered by Bharat. We
Creature Companion | August 2019 • Vol. XII • Issue 8 • Noida
spoke with our father asking him to raise
fi nance for this new venture and the rest
is history. Th e motto of our startup story is
“No Guts, No Glory!”
W
hat challenges does your
venture resolve?
In the last nine odd years of ABK Imports’
existence, it has evolved tremendously. ABK
started with the idea of bridging the gap
between pets and their parents by off ering
products which would enhance the life of
every pet and also make living with pets
more fun. Along the way ABK realized that
the pet accessories business was catering
only to pet households across India and to
pet retailers.