Golden beaches and grand hotels can all be found in Mauritius, but there is much more to this ssland paradise.
The country, located some 500 miles east of Madagascar, has been attracting global investors for decades. But there is also a healthy local appetite for business development — one of the many reasons the country has been hailed as an African success story.
One company demonstrating this entrepreneurial drive is fresh food suppliers SKC Surat.
“My father Sooklall Surat, started as a farmer with one hectare of land,” says Suren Surat, who is now CEO of the company his father founded sixty years ago. “The land was next to our house, where we lived. My father was the first grower at that time, the pioneer for growing strawberries and artichokes in Mauritius.”
Suren Surat has been part of the company from the beginning. The family had enough offspring to start a cricket squad, but the team dedicated its efforts towards business success.
As a kid, Surat would get up early to help his father on the small farm before going to school.
“Whatever he was growing, people were coming to buy in our garden, wholesale…So my father decided to go retail,” Surat remembers.
Shift to retail
The family’s first stall was in Curepipe market in the country’s highest town. It was here, not far from the famous extinct volcanic crater “Trou aux Cerfs”, that the family business started to really grow.
Lychees, pineapple and mangoes all bloom in Mauritius’ tropical climate, but the weather stops oranges, apples, and plums from sprouting. When Sooklall Surat started importing foreign fruit, others followed suit.
Import/Export
Sooklall’s brother Shyam focused on selling fresh produce from abroad, attracting customers with foreign tastes. He built a busy operation, but the fast flow of goods didn’t stop the family monitoring the fruits and vegetables.
“We say you need to be able to talk to the fresh produce — this is the success of the business,” says Suren Surat.
‘Work is work’
Estimates say the Mauritian economy grew by 3.5% in 2014 and will top 4% in 2015 — impressive statistics in a country which the World Bank says does a better job of supporting business than Japan, France and Spain.
In such a competitive market, guts, good relations and hard work are essential. Suren says that the business keeps the family together, with different members taking control of areas like import and distribution.
“We’ve seen many local companies, Mauritius companies, who are family business who split,” says Suren Surat. “But luckily I have to say our grandparents, our mother, father have taught us how to manage.”
The company’s next leaders will have to do more than manage the fresh produce. Recently, the family started the islands’ first dairy, and is soon to open its sixth supermarket franchise.
It’s all part of the strategy to keep things fresh on the island that is home to over 1.3 million people.
“The future is very very important,” says Shyam Surat. “I would advise any people, mainly in Africa or this part of the islands, to grow more fruit and veggies. And this is the future because people have to eat.”