DEVYA INDIAN GOURMET - SImmer Sauces and Marinades


Release February 2, 2008 January 31, 2008 October 2007 April 2007 April 29, 2006 April 21, 2006 April 15, 2003	Exoticism February 2, 2008 Canada is quickly becoming more ethnically diverse with new immigrants arriving every day. Combine that with the amount of travel that Canadians are doing outside of North America, it's no surprise that there is a growing appetite among consumers for exotic foods from around the world. This week's Fortune Hunter is Toronto's Anita Saini from Devya Indian Gourmet. Her line of ready-to-eat Indian sauces is already in 270 stores in Canada and 400 stores in the US. Her biggest challenges is that she has too many orders coming in and not enough money to create the product. Here's my take on her chances of being successful: She's Young, Intelligent, Energetic and Professional While Anita shows some of her inexperience, especially when dealing with investors, she has a dynamic personality that draws you to her. She has an obvious passion for her product and has the ability to get people excited about it. Her packaging and trade show displays are also extremely professional and gives the impression that a major brand is backing her. It's no wonder she's convinced over 670 stores to carry her product! The Timing Is Right Unlike the experts on the show, I believe that the timing couldn't be better for Anita's Indian gourmet sauces. Exotic foods are all the rage right now – all you have to do is take a stroll through your local supermarket to see the new products being introduced that are inspired from India, China, Japan, and other exotic locales. The My First Million success story of T&T Supermarket's Cindy Lee further builds the case for exotic foods in the Canadian market. Anita's products are also the only Indian sauces in Canada that have organic ingredients – another big boost for the marketing of her sauces.	Fortune Hunter: Toronto 's Anita Saini and Devya Indian Gourmet. Her line of ready-to-eat Indian sauces is already in more than 500 stores across North America. She's A Fighter One trait that you always see in successful entrepreneurs is the tenacity to keep going. In any business you will have tremendous hurdles to jump over to achieve your goals. Anita has seen her warehouse full of inventory burn down, has struggled to run the business from her home office with her son running around, and has been rejected by investors who don't believe she can make it. Regardless of the challenges she has faced she continues soldiering on and will continue to do so until she reaches the success she's seeking. Can She Get Funded? Anita recently landed a large order from Costco (a big coup!) but doesn't have the money to finance the manufacturing of so many units so she's on the hunt to find investment. She does what every smart bootstrapping entrepreneur would do by refinancing with the bank and asking the manufacturer for better terms – but she still needs an investor for more money. She gets turned down on the show by one potential funder and my only concern is that she doesn't have the margins to make her company an attractive opportunity for investors. If she can figure that one out, it's a slam dunk!