Vanmalidas Mehta (left) and Chunilal Mehta (right) – Founders of Das Pendawala

Das Pendawala has faced many challenges since its inception about 100 years ago and has emerged out victorious. It is very rare to find a setup like this where the centralised production facility provides sweets to shops that are at a distance of as long as 400 km.

The Making of a Brand

The year 1918 marked the beginning of a new era in sweets making in Savarkundla of Amreli district, Gujarat. It was the same year when Vanmalidas Devchand started a milk and penda shop, which soon became famous as Das Pendawala.

The ethnic roots of the company are very deep. In 1937, a quality certificate was awarded to Das Pendawala for their sweets and penda by the then ruler of Bhavnagar, Krishnakumar Sinhji, as part of his efforts to promote Indian or local products.

Baiju S Mehta, a family member recounts, In the year 1974 we started a shop in Bhavnagar and today Das Pendawala is a private limited company having one shop in Savarkundla, five shop in Bhavnagar, two in Ahmedabad, one in Vadodara, two in Surat and still counting.

Next year Das Pendawala will be celebrating its 100th anniversary

Scaling Up

The reason for penda being among the most famous sweet items in Saurashtra region of Gujarat include geographical and weather conditions. Dry weather gives mava (khoa) longer life. In addition to this, the quality of milk is very high because of the cattle of this region being fed highly nutritious cotton seeds and food prepared from groundnut residue.

Das Pendawala has faced many challenges since its inception but has emerged out victorious. It is rare to find a setup like this where the centralised production facility provides sweets to shops located even at a distance of 400 km.

Consistency in quality is the pillar on which the existence of this firm stands. The penda you have today goes through a quality assurance test. It tastes the same every time you eat it.

They also offer a wide range of sweets, bakery products and namkeens including the famous Bhavnagri Gathiya.

All in the Family

Das Pendawala, the largest chain of its kind, is now being run by the fourth generation of the Das family

Das Pendawala, the Bhavnagar-based chain of sweet shop launched in 1918, has today grown into the largest chain of its kind run by the fourth generation of the Das family successfully, and fifth generation is all geared up to join family business.

The family is involved in the business and its growth by inculcating new ideas and technologies. This is a natural outcome of having highly qualified family members with degrees like Mechanical Engineering, Chartered Accountancy, Masters in Business Administration, Masters in Computer Application, Law, etc.

Modernisation

The production facility of Das Pendawala is spread over two acres and has the latest machinery. Though in theory, there is no change in penda making process that was initiated in 1918, modernisation of process has been the key of Das Pendawalas success. With automisation of penda making and packaging, that can increase the shelf-life of product up to three months, the company is leaving no stone unturned to adopt new technology.

The production facility of Das Pendawala is spread over two acres and has the latest machinery. Though in theory there is no change in penda making process that was initiated in 1918, modernisation of process has been the key of Das Pendawalas success.

Usually a sweet which you take home has to be consumed within two to three days. But if you buy Das Pendawala sweet, you can relish it whenever you wish within three months of purchase, that too without compromising on the taste, texture or flavour. The company has collaborated with an Italian company to provide a better shelf-life to sweets and its investment in research and development in this space has paid off.

Each sweet at Das Pendawala is handcrafted individually, something no one has ever done before.

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