A Brief Tale of Success
It was Mr. Fazlur Rahman who believed that he could change his lot through
his hardship and determination. Out of his willingness in the year of 1972 he
started to walk a path of fortune. In the post war period when the economy
and social structure of Bangladesh was fragile, “City Oil Mills” was formed by
Mr. Fazlur Rahman. It was just another day in the independent Bangladesh
for most of the people, but 6th February, 1972 was the beginning of one of
the largest group companies of Bangladesh “The City Group”. Initially the
mission of the company was to produce mustard oil for the local market
consumption. But the up roaring demand of the product soon brought the
company in the competitive market. “City Vegetable Oil Mills” was
established at Rupshi, on the outskirts of Dhaka. This effort evidenced an
accelerated growth of City Group and the company was soon found to open
two more sister concerns by the year 1994 named “Hasan Vegetable Oil Mills
Liimited” and “City Fibers Limited”.
Within this time period the company brought out their first brand named
“TEER”. The flagship product for this brand was “ Soyabean Oil”. The
later part is the success stories of the corporation. Under the brand name of
TEER, different products are produced in different sister concerns of the “City
Group”.
In the year of 2009 City Group founded the Shampa Flour Mills Ltd, the
largest flour mill in the history of our country. Our report is solely based on
Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. and the products produced here.
About Shampa Flour Mills Ltd.
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The country’s biggest-ever flour mill was set to start production at the end of
April, 2009. Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. was a Tk 250-crore project of the City
Group to produce premium grade and packed flour and semolina (suji). The
factory was established at Rupshi under Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj.
Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. is located on the bank of the River Shitalakhya.
The main unit occupies more than two acres of land while the warehouse and
silos occupy few acres of the 70-acre City Industrial Estate at Rupshi. It has a
structural installation of seven-storey industrial unit.
City Group used to operate the country’s biggest flour unit — Hasan Flour
that produced 200 tons of flour and semolina per day. According to the group
chairman, Fazlur Rahman, they were not able to meet the market demand.
And this situation led them to set up another industry with a production
capacity of 550 tons per day.
Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. brought the plant from Switzerland’s
that delivers the world’s most sophisticated and expensive technologies. The
coordinators of the installations of Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. were eight
European engineers. The plant is designed to be automated that guides the
machine to clean wheat in four steps before producing flour and semolina
and filter unwanted particle in seven steps up to packing of the product.
Food-grade plastics for making plant’s bed and food-grade paint on the walls
have been used in the Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. as per the guideline of
to ensure quality. Buhler technology obliges City to invest double in
compare to Indian or Chinese plants but Fazlur Rahman was sure of keeping
the prices of his products competitive and he did it too.
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A top view of the massive structure of City Industrial Estate including Shampa Flour Mills Ltd.
The Machineries bought from Swiss Company
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The Key Milestones
City Group of Industries has 22 sister concerns right now. The starting of any of those was a milestone for the group.
S# Company Products Starting1 City Oil Mills Mustard Oil 1972
2 City Rerolling Mills MS Rod 1985
3 City Vegetable Oil Mills Ltd Refined Soyabean & Palm Olein June 1990
4 City Fibers Limited P.P. Oven Bag October 1992
5 Hasan Plastic Industries Ltd HDPE Containers September 1994
6 Hasan Flour Mills Ltd Atta, Flour & Semolina December 1995
7 Hasan Printing & Packaging
Industries Ltd
Paper Carton September 1999
8 Hasan Containers Ltd Tin Containers September 1999
9 City PET Industries Ltd PET Bottle & Mineral Water February 2001
10 Shampa Oil Mills Ltd Mustard Oil April 2001
11 Farzana Oil Refineries Ltd Refined Soyabean & Palm Olein April 2001
12 City Dal Mills Ltd Beans June 2001
13 Grainmark Indenting 2001
14 Rahman Synthetics Limeted P.P. Oven Bag August 2001
15 Deepa Food Products Ltd Refined Soyabean & Palm Olein October 2003
16 VOTT Oil Refineries Ltd Refined Soyabean & Palm Olein February 2004
17 City Hair Oil Ltd Refined Coconut Oil May 2004
18 City Feed Products Ltd Poultry & Fish Feed November 2004
19 City Seed Crushing Industries Ltd Soyameal & Rapeseed Cake February 2005
20 City Salt Industries Ltd Salt March 2005
21 City Sugar Industries Ltd Sugar March 2006
22 Shampa Flour Mills Ltd Atta, Flour & Semolina April 2009
City Group of Industries launched four brands named , , and
.
is one of the significant milestones of City Group. This brand has
captivated the hearts and minds of the people.
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Management
It might sound that the management of Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. is
consisted of very few number of employees. Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. is an
automated factory. It has only one manager to watch out the whole
operation. Several employees are also there for the maintenance of the
massive structure. The machines are run by European professionals. The
overall framework is taken care of by the management of The City Group.
Market Share
Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. produces products only. So, in this section we
can prove this mill’s point by telling ’s market share. From the very
beginning of the birth of products, it has enthralled the hearts of millions
of consumers. It’s hard to find a person without having the knowledge about
the products. products are popular in the higher income group.
They serve the best products to their customers and consumers. In the
consumer market, has around 40% of the market share. In the customer
market, products are far ahead of its competitors. Some of the
competitors of the consumer products of are eventually customers of
City Group. From this point of view we can understand that products
have a larger share in its related product market.
Mission
The mission of Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. is same as that of the CITY Group.
The mission statement of the company is “To provide HYGIENE, HEALTH &
EXCELLENCE in food consumables for the consumers at an affordable price
and raise awareness in the Local & International market”
City Group cares a great deal about the health concern of their consumers.
This is what enables them to maintain the highest quality of hygiene and
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health standards while marketing their products, in order to meet the
common goal - Excellence!
The Principal Objectives of the company can be further broken down into 5
parts:
Passion for Excellence Business Integrity Pioneering Commitment Development
Vision
For more than three decades City Group has been serving the mass and
premium market with their quality product. They always look forward into all
the aspects of providing quality food and health consumables for the
consumers. From the initial days till now they strive always to achieve
customer satisfaction by providing quality consumables at rational price.
Achieving a satisfying market share in the local market, they are presently
exporting in the Middle East and some other places. Their vision is to serve
the whole world as an International Brand.
The entire painstaking process has started to take its shape and within a few
years the corporation looks forward to become one of the best corporations
in the country.
Mr. Fazlur Rahman, the industrialist vows to uphold his promise on quality
flour at affordable prices as he feels, ‘A nation needs nutritious food at
affordable prices and without that the intellectual level and productivity
cannot be increased.’
Strength
According to the spokesperson of the City Group, the main strength of the
Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. is its huge establishment. Shampa Flour Mills
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Ltd. is one of the 10 largest mills of its kind in the world. It is the only
corporation which can refine the raw materials on its own thoroughly. After
that, they can produce their brand products. Their competitors lack this
advantage because of their fewer resources.
Weakness
As every company has weakness, the City Group isn’t an exception either.
But regarding Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. they have no weakness. There has
been some lacking in the whole company, the City Group. It was
unsuccessful to continue some of their products under the brand .
Consumer pack of coconut oil was discontinued; because they were
unable to position their product in the mind of users. Even though they have
the bulk and institutional pack of coconut oil. The discontinuation of salt
can also be regarded as a weakness of this corporation.
Opportunities
Any change in the market like the unavailability of the goods of the
competitors brings out a way of opportunity to the products. The change
in pricing policy of the competitors also brings prospect to the products of
Shampa Flour Mills Ltd.
Threats
Only threats products face is the unusual problem raised in the countries
where from city group import their raw materials. Most of the raw materials
are brought from Brazil, Canada, Australia, Malaysia and India. So, any
economical crises in these countries hamper the business strategies of
Shampa Flour Mills Ltd.
Competitors
There a plentiful numbers of flour mills in our country. But none can be taken
as a competitor of Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. because no other flour mill
would show the courage to compete with the king of the dynasty. But there
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are some competitors of products which are produced in Shampa Flour
Mills Ltd. Some of those are FRESH, IFAD, ACI, PUSTI and FAUJI.
The Marketing Mix
The most important thing to run a business farm is the proper marketing
mix. The marketing mix is referred to the product, price, place and
promotion. Without these 4Ps, in no way a company can survive. The
marketing mix of Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. is pretty simple to grasp. It
doesn’t follow any extra ordinary marketing policy. The marketing of the
products are broadly based on the after sales satisfaction of the consumers.
They serve the best product to their consumers. Once a consumer buys their
products; they don’t turn their back on the company. So, the City Group
doesn’t need to generate lavish promotional strategy or anything like that. In
the following sections the marketing mix for Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. will
be thoroughly discussed.
Product
Several products from wheat are produced here. As Shampa Flour Mills
Ltd. is the largest one, they can finish up all the refining, packaging in one
place.
The products produced here are Atta, Maida, Suji and Poultry Feed. All of the
products are sold under the brand name of . The daily production capacity
of the mill is 550 metric tons. They produce consumer pack, institutional
pack and bulk pack. Several food packaging industries are also their
industrial customers.
Only 10% of the wheat is collected from our own country. Most of the raw
materials are imported from different countries around the world. High
quality of products is ensured here. Canada is the largest seller of Shampa
Flour Mills Ltd. regarding wheat. The other countries where from Shampa
Flour Mills Ltd. imports wheat are Russia and Australia.
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The Atta, Maida and Suji are produced in a gigantic factory. There are around
six stages to produce high quality atta, maida and suji.
The premier brand of City Group – Wheat (locally known as "Atta") speaks for
itself. The overwhelming demand of it is enough to satisfy the consumers
that “ ATTA” is a true symbol of quality. The local market has seen the
consumption of many branded wheat based products, but Atta makes its
mark itself. One can easily differentiate amongst the quality easily.
Manufactured from one of the best quality of wheat, Atta is produced in a
highly modernized environment meeting strict safety standard. The
extracted wheat and other ingredients are crushed using the popular
machine of Switzerland to ensure 100% purity and fineness.
Yet another derivative of wheat, Semolina, commonly known as Suji, is also a
key ingredient for the luscious sweets of Bangladesh. By importing wheat,
which is mainly responsible for producing Semolina, Shampa Flour Mills
Ltd. crushes it along with other ingredients, in order to produce Semolina.
The company ethics, beliefs and ideals are founded around the better health
of our nation through good nutrition and products, which are grown to
support the future of our planet.
Suji meets the highest quality available and the products are grown
originally. The products are packed and sealed with maximum freshness.
products represent value for money.
The company has already introduced Bar Codes to their entire range of
consumables as plan of their renewed quest to achieve excellence in all
aspects. According to them the bar codes will help them strengthening the
features of their entire range of products greatly.
All the labels/packs of the brands already contain the information regarding
manufacturing date, expiry date, batch number and MRP. The company is
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going to include the ingredients, specification & nutritional facts on all the
labels very soon.
Now let’s talk about the products in detail. According to the Shampa Flour
Mills Ltd. they produce goods for all types of buyer. They have consumer
packs. They also have the institutional and the bulk packs.
Some products with different sizes are shown below.
ATTA
Specification
Moisture Percent by mass 10 MaxTotal ash (on dry basis), percent by mass 2 MaxGluten (on dry basis), percent by mass 7 Max
Consumer packs of Atta
2kg 1kg
Maida
SpecificationsMoisture, percent by mass 13.0 maxTotal ash (on dry basis), percent by mass 1.0 max
Gluten (on dry basis), percent by mass 10.0 min
Consumer Packs of Maida
10
2kg 1kg
Suji
SpecificationsMoisture, percent by mass 13.0 maxTotal ash (on dry basis), percent by mass 1.0 maxGluten (on dry basis), percent by mass 7.50 min
Consumer packs of Suji
500gm 250gm
Price
The prices of Atta, Maida and Suji are not very high. Consumer of a lower
income group can also afford the products of Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. The
prices are differentiated with the refining, production and competition.
According to the spokesperson of City Group, their products are value for
money. Their prices are relatively lower than their competitor in the aspect
of quality.
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They keep themselves updated about the prices of the competitors. If they
get to know the change of prices of their competitor, they spontaneously
take action for this.
Some other reasons are also kept into mind before pricing. The economic
conditions of the countries from where Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. imports
the raw materials largely influence the pricing strategies.
In our country, it’s very hard to maintain a fixed price in the food related
industry. The fluctuating condition of our economy also plays a major role in
the pricing. The price of products may vary in different places. But, City
Group keeps trying on keeping the price in the range of their customers and
relatively lower than their competitors.
Place
The distribution channel of products is very strong. One can find
products everywhere in our country. They have around 2000+ distributors all
over our country. There are more than 60 distributing regions for the
products. For every regional office there is one Regional Manager, several
Zonal Officers and a good numbers of Sales Representatives.
Few years back they used to follow the DO system. DO system is the short
form of Delivery on Order. In this system the distributor could buy products
having the opportunity of taking delivery of the products upon their wish.
Most of the time they waited until the price would rise. In that case the
distributors could earn a lot profit investing the same amount a little time
earlier. They could use the firm as their warehouse. But City Group has
recently changed their distribution policy. They don’t follow the DO system
anymore. Now they follow the Purchase Order policy. Now the distributors
have to take the products on the time of purchase. They don’t get extra
benefit from the purchases what they used to execute.
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The city group, owner of the Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. has a huge number
of transportation vehicles. They transport their raw materials and products
through their own transports. They own two large Vessels to carry the
imported raw materials. From the Chittagong port they bring their raw Wheat
through their Burges. The City Group owns around 100 heavy duty trucks
and 50 covered van, which are used for the Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. also.
Regarding the products of atta, maida and suji, the firm has an
advantage. They use the pull sale strategy. They don’t need to push their
distributor thoroughly. Even though, they have their marketing department
to train up their sells representatives. To motivate the distributors and retail
sellers, this farm provides several incentives. For instance, the common one
is the special price reduction for the distributors after purchasing bulk
amount.
Promotion
A vast promotion is not needed regarding products. Rarely do they show
their advertisements on television. Only during the Eid festival the City
Group promotes their products frequently on TV. They use print media for
rare occasions. Unlike the competitors of them they don’t even put large
billboards. They use massive promotional strategy only when a new product
is being launched.
They are generous when they are asked to sponsor any educational
initiatives. This also helps them to promote their product. The Deputy Brand
Manager (Marketing & sales) quoted that they sponsor the sports related
occasions of different educational institutions frequently.
To promote the company, City Group makes brochures of its prospective
SBU. These are mostly used for the corporate clients. Corporate videos made
by advertising farm are also used to promote the corporation regarding the
overseas clients. They take part in trade fairs as a promotional campaign.
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Success Factors
The success factor for the Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. is the goodwill of the
city Group. City Group has always been loyal to its customers. Mr. Fazlur
Rahman, Chairman of the Group says, “The factory is a public welfare entity.
If someone serves the public and the consumers with good quality products,
the consumers will, in return, pay the due price.” And they have lived up to
their promise. This unique selling proposition has led them to the summit of
success.
End Note
A vision can take a person to his desired place. Shampa Flour Mills Ltd. is an
example of that. One proper idea with proper implementation can make one
really successful; the chairman of city group and industries makes a perfect
example for us. After visiting the organization we’ve noticed that how to
manage and organize a huge company. Although when they started, it was
not so massive, but now it is. The manpower of city group is the heart of this
company, their hard labor and determination towards their work makes it
such a triumphant company. In our point of view we’ve learned that effective
manpower and proper maintenance are the key things to achieve
accomplishment. Though motivation is also needed for the employees and
city group is providing that also. Moreover we have learned so much about
the lifecycle of a company while doing this project. Special thanks goes to
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Mr. Rubaiet Ahmed who cooperated with us thoroughly. We deliberately
thank our instructor for making us doing the report, which will help our
practical life in near future.
Acknowldgement
http://www.citygroup.com.bd
http://www.zimbio.com/Bangladesh/articles/606/
Largest+flour+mill+set+start+operation
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1746519481.html
Corporate Brochures of City Group
Corporate video
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