SHAS­TRI BOODAN

The pan­dem­ic has seen many busi­ness­es fold un­der eco­nom­ic pres­sure, while some have been able to piv­ot and re-in­vent them­selves.

For­mer na­tion­al crick­eter, Ra­jen­dra Man­galie, 55, is one of those who has piv­ot­ed, and di­ver­si­fied his op­er­a­tions in­to the dry goods busi­ness.  On Mon­day Au­gust 16th, he opened Man­galie Foods Whole­sale and Re­tail Lim­it­ed, at Fran­cis Lal­la Road, Char­lieville.

Man­galie start­ed a ceil­ing sup­ply com­pa­ny 16 years ago.

“The di­rec­tors in the com­pa­ny de­cid­ed five months ago to en­ter in­to the dry goods mar­ket be­cause we saw a grow­ing need for food sup­plies glob­al­ly,” he told Guardian Me­dia.

“Prices were fluc­tu­at­ing up­wards, and con­sumers were find­ing it dif­fi­cult to make pur­chas­es be­cause of re­duced spend­ing pow­er.  The di­rec­tors de­cid­ed to di­ver­si­fy and source dry goods at cheap­er prices to en­sure that all could eat,” Man­galie ex­plained.

He added: “Al­though we are in busi­ness, we saw a greater hu­man­i­tar­i­an need. Peo­ple were com­plain­ing about the prices and a lot of peo­ple were starv­ing. We had the ca­pac­i­ty to di­ver­si­fy, and this op­por­tu­ni­ty en­ables us to give back to the wider com­mu­ni­ty at prices they can af­ford.” 

Man­galie said the com­pa­ny would be sell­ing oil, rice, sug­ar, beans, chan­na, dhal, and re­lat­ed mer­chan­dise. In ad­di­tion, he notes the move to di­ver­si­fy has al­lowed the com­pa­ny to hire 10 ad­di­tion­al staff mem­bers.

Man­galie points out that high freight costs are the ma­jor rea­son prices have gone up.

“In June 2020, it cost US$3,500 to ship a con­tain­er from Chi­na. That cost is now US$15,000 and go­ing up,” he said.