CEO Of Rs 3,000 Crore Food Company Shares His Father Earned Rs 10 A Day

iD Fresh Food Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Musthafa PC was born in a remote village in Kerala. His father was a daily wage worker who barely earned Rs 10 daily. But even after struggles, Musthafa PC managed to build a company which now boasts a valuation of Rs 3,000 crore. In a recent conversation on The Neon Show podcast, the iD Fresh Food CEO shared insights into his early life. He revealed that as a child he worked alongside his siblings to support their father, who worked at a ginger farm. "My father earned Rs 10 a day," Mr Musthafa recalled.

He mentioned that he and his siblings often did odd jobs like selling firewood in the village to supplement their family's income. He saved every penny from his side jobs and eventually accumulated enough to purchase a goat for Rs 150. This goat wasn't just another mouth to feed. In fact, it was the family's "first asset", he said in the podcast.

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After some time, Mr Musthafa sold the goat and saved enough to buy a cow which further improved his family's lives. "We were able to eat three meals a day because the milk from the cow was regulated for the family," he recalled.

The iD Fresh Food CEO eventually made it to the National Institute of Technology to study engineering, he revealed. He later took up IT jobs. It was in 2006, that he started iD Fresh Food, a company that sells ready-to-cook packaged food, out of a small kitchen. 

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In the podcast, Mr Musthafa spoke about the challenges of introducing packaged idli-dosa batter to Indian consumers. "We Indians don't trust our packaged food. Anything in a package form is considered unhealthy. When we launched the product in the market, we were surprised, no one was willing to buy a package of batter. We started sending 100 packets to the market, and 90 used to come back," he said. 

"Running a food business is very difficult, but then running a fresh food business without adding chemicals and preservatives is the toughest job in the world," he added. 

However, even after initial setbacks, iD Fresh Food became a staple for many. "We can create one of the largest fresh food businesses in the world, all of us can do wonders in the world but we all wait for tomorrow," he said.