Suguna Foods Private Limited is an Indian multinational

food products Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inges ...

company headquartered in

Coimbatore Coimbatore (Tamil: kōyamputtūr, ), also known as Kovai (), is one of the major Metropolitan cities of India, metropolitan cities in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Noyy ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The company was started in 1984 and is involved in broiler farming,

hatcheries A hatchery is a facility where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions, especially those of fish, poultry or even turtles. It may be used for ''ex situ'' conservation purposes, i.e. to breed rare or endangered species under controlled ...

, feed mills, processing plants, and

vaccine A vaccine is a biological Dosage form, preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious disease, infectious or cancer, malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verifi ...

s manufacturing for

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

History

Founders

Mr. B. Soundararajan and Mr. G. B. Sundararajan were the founders of Suguna Foods. They hail from a village near

Udumalpet Udumalaipettai also known as Udumalai, is a town in Tiruppur district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located 535 km (332 mi) south west from the state capital, Chennai and 72 km (45 ...

. Their parents were school teachers. They entered

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

after successful completion of school. They were Agriculturalists when they started

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

and

farms simultaneously.

1984–90

In 1984 they started a small

farm with a small investment of Rs 5000. In 1986 they started a poultry-related trading firm. In 1990 the situations around them demanded them to pioneer the concept of

contract farming Contract farming involves agricultural production being carried out on the basis of an agreement between the buyer and farm producers. Sometimes it involves the buyer specifying the quality required and the price, with the farmer agreeing to deliv ...

for the first time in India.

Contract farming

In this

concept, the company provides chicks, feed,

healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

, and Technical support. The farmer's responsibility is to have a

shed and manage it effectively. So farmers are able to get secured regular income from Suguna.

1990s

From 1990 to 1997, the company grew gradually. In 1997, the company got its first sizable turnover of 7 crores. Expanded their business all over

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

and started professionalizing the company. At the end of 90's, they got turnover of 100 crores.

2000

In 2000, the founders moved into the neighboring states of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. They found an ally in several

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

governments due to their objective to Energize Rural India. They overcame the opposition of the middlemen with the help of farmers and the respective state governments.

2000 – present

Suguna ranks among the top ten

companies worldwide. With operations in 16 states across

, it offers a range of

products and services. The fully integrated operations cover broiler and layer farming,

, feed mills, processing plants,

vaccines A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. A vaccine typically contains an ag ...

, and

exports An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

. Suguna markets live broiler chicken, value-added eggs, and frozen chicken. Suguna has set up a chain of retail outlets. In 2020, Suguna Foods has funded a $15 million contract with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to maintain poultry agricultural production.

References

{{Reflist 1986 establishments in Tamil Nadu Companies based in Coimbatore Companies established in 1986 Food and drink companies of India Poultry companies Poultry industry in India Agriculture companies of India