Tamul Plates Marketing Pvt. Ltd.: The Growth Challenge

Abstract

Tamul Plates Marketing Private Limited (TPMC) is a four-year-old organization in the production of aercanut sheath based plates and dinnerware. It is jointly promoted by the arecanut leaf plate producers of Assam. The main work of TPMC is production and marketing of disposable plates and marketing of the leaf plate making machines. The initial journey has been pretty exciting with the organization moving from a turnover of INR 12.9 lakh to over INR 2 corers. The products offered by TPMC are unique as they make use of fallen sheaths which traditionally have been considered a waste, and turn them into an environment-friendly product which is superior to the current substitutes in the market. The market for the product is enormous, but so are the challenges of producing and marketing them. One of the many challenges which TPMC is facing is the location of the production facilities. It has been decided for production facilities to be closest to the source of raw materials, that is, the villages. However, the most lucrative markets are farthest from the source of raw material and matching the demand patterns and preferences is not easy. TPMC is taking care of this challenge by setting up entrepreneurs at the village level, but marketing and distribution remains a challenge with the reliance on wholesalers being very heavy. TPMC is preparing for the next round of growth with the expected funding around the corner. The team has done their projections and set the typical growth targets for the next phase. However, along with the typical growth targets, TPMC has also identified the triple bottom line targets for the organization. The overall growth plan has to be seen in the light of these goals as they are expected to become more and more relevant to all companies in the future.