Booming factory business. Tales of growth, expansion and toilet paper, from Darshan Chandaria

The East Africa Business Podcast: African Start ups | Investing | Entrepreneurship | Interviews

Manufacturing is one of the major value drivers in an economy.

In this episode, I speak with Darshan Chandaria, Group CEO of Chandaria Industries, the company founded by his grandfather in the late 1940s and which has now diversified into other areas.

The core business is hygiene products: recycling waste paper and turning it into tissue and other products.

This episode is slightly longer than usual, mainly because there just seemed to be so much to talk about. This includes the set up of their fully integrated operation, the thought process of building a new factory, hiring strategies across the group and Darshan’s management strategy for leading the team. Essentially: find people on the same wavelength and leave them to it.

There are also other tidbits of information in there around designing detachable roofs in the new factory, the comparatively high cost of transporting goods, as well as Darshan’s strategy for building his Instagram following.

The interview took place at Chandaria HQ which is a working factory and so at times there might be some background noise of trucks moving around. I’m sure you’ll agree though that it adds to the effect.

READ MORE AT:
https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/09/06/tissue-paper-expanding-one-of-east-africas-top-manufacturing-groups-with-darshan-chandaria-of-chandaria-industries/