Newstrack

Tilda Riceland conducts tours for hotels

Extends DNA testing facility to other companies

Sanjeev Bhar - New Delhi

Tilda Riceland, known for its Tilda Basmati rice, is conducting tours for hotels and corporates. Rajnish Ohri, its VP, informed that the 'Rice Knowledge Initiatives' is not only aimed at hotels or the hospitality sector. "We have programmes that are addressed to farming communities by our two divisions namely, Face (Farmers Advisory Cell) and Foster (Field of Systematic Trials and Experimentation). Rice Seminars for the Science and Research community are also conducted by our rice research DNA laboratory. Additionally, we are arranging plant tours and industry visits on rice information programmes to address the retail industry," Ohri said.

Tilda is currently in the business of selling processed and packed rice, marketing its brand building relationships with intermediaries, both in retail and hospitality. The company also extends the education and training on product knowledge by initiating external industry tours. "We look at the business aspect of these activities as these students or trainees are the 'chefs of tomorrow', who would recommend and influence our brand in future, playing an integral part in converting the brand from a position of an 'A class' brand category to a 'Preferred A class' brand category," explained Ohri. The company has already conducted tours for ITC Hotels and Park Hotels. Sharing his experience, Bakshish Dean, executive chef of The Park New Delhi said, "The Rice Knowledge Initiative is a unique experience which enabled my team to understand various aspects of rice from its growth to its processing, to packaging and the varieties of rice for specific needs in different cuisines. For a good chef, these minute details make a big difference in deciding the right choices."

Further, Tilda Riceland in Gurgaon has a private DNA testing laboratory. Claims Ohri, "Yes, we are the only private lab in India and it gives us a competitive edge over other players in the market as the DNA test products speak of quality by itself." The company, in an effort to leverage its testing credentials, would be providing this service to other companies interested in various testing requisites. Ohri said that at Tilda, DNA Testing is an integral part of the business approach. It offers a platform of purity and honest labelling and at no point in time does the system that we work in allow us to take any liberties with that. "DNA testing in Tilda was an in house operation but with growing knowledge about the importance of DNA testing and the customers realising the commercial benefits of carrying out these tests, we have now started extending this to external customers too," he remarked.