ALCON – Anil Counto Enterprises
Chairman and managing director, Anil Counto at the beginning started his career in Public Works Department of Goa and then he started working for different companies in Goa as an engineer. In 1977 he floated his own company and this was primarily looking into the field of real estate, construction and then in 1980-81 he ventured into hospitality. In 1993 he floated Alcon cement company and then in 2003 Alcon Developers.
In 2005 the elder son of Anil Counto, Aakash Khaunte at age 24 joined his father’s Alcon Group as a director after completing his engineering. “When I joined, I was concentrating on manufacturing of cement in our plant and along with it I was into hospitality and redi-mix concrete business too. Then in 2006 I entered into automobile business with Hyundai. Later in 2010, I also started doing my business with Mercedes. In 2013 we launched our mines and mineral business,” said Aakash Khaunte.
At present, Aakash Khaunte adds that they are majorly into five verticals – real-estate, manufacturing, hospitality, trading and logistics. Meanwhile, Aakash’s younger brother, Gaurav Khaunte has also stepped-into the business.
When asked what is new in Alcon Group, Aakash Khaunte said, “We are now seriously back in real-estate and we are doing lot of land development, high-end villa projects and building apartments apart from developing hospitality related projects.”
—
CACULO GROUP
Manoj Caculo of the Caculo Group at the age of 46 and an engineer by qualification has spread his business into many fields, which include, dealership of Honda and Ford, high-end food and beverage restaurants, apparels, mall, retail etc.
“I joined my family business in 1991 when I was 21 and since then there has been no looking back. We diversified into automobile industry after I joined in. My brother Suraj and I are working diligently to take this group forward. We started the first mall in Goa – the Caculo Mall, six years ago,” said Manoj Caculo.
Manoj Caculo’s son Shamik, now a director in Caculo Group completed his schooling from Mushti Fund and then went to UK to complete his bachelor’s in business administration from Kingston University in London in 2015.
“I specialised in service and retail industry and that is what I am now looking after in our Group. In my first year of joining at the age of 20, I moved around in the mall and all our business hubs to learn so that I can start from grass root level which would help me in decision making. Now I take care of operations which allows smooth running of the business which I am looking after,” said Shamik Caculo.
When asked about value addition to the business, Shamik Caculo said that, “I want to give something new to Goa which Goans may not have seen or tasted. Caculo Group was the first in Goa to bring in the retail segment. Currently retail and F&B are my interest.”
—
CARASID – The taste changers
Partners in Carasid, Christabel Shrivastava, Sunil Shrivastava, started the business of bringing in new flavours to the sweet taste buds of Goa in 2005 when they became vendors for Café Coffee Day.
However, the scenario changed when all partners including Cara and Siddhant the next-gen, decided to launch their own brand Carasid in 2008. Miramar was the first café and it spread it out to eleven outlets which have been scaled down to three outlets so that the plans to launch and distribute franchises can work.
“One each at Mapusa and Margao is now up and running under the franchisee model and two more are in the offing at St Inez and Porvorim soon. There are plenty of enquiries and we are going ahead in this model,” said the partner in Carasid, Christabel Shrivastava.
The nextgen, Sidhant Shrivastava, who completed his B Com from Dempo College and has done his IHM course in food production joined this family business at an early age of 16 when he was still in college.
“The value I have added to our business is innovation and taking our business forward. I want to bring in new edge technology, ideas and new food trends. As my passion, I want to do backward integration. I want to server to our customers from scratch to finish. I am planning to produce and cultivate all the ingredients required in our own land/farm and use it for our final product. The concept of farm table is in my mind,” said Sidhant Shrivastava.
—
BHARNE GROUP
Chairman of Bharne Group, Sanjay Bharne looks after his family business of fabric and apparel. The company which was established way back in 1904 has seen a sea change since its inception as the company moved with time and needs of the day. Sanjay Bharne was the first to start apparel business in Goa in 1989.
In 2010, son of Sanjay Bharne, Samrudh Bharne, now managing director of the Bharne Group joined his family business after completing his bachelor’s in business administration from Pune University. At the age of 21, it took about one year for Samrudh to understand Goa as a market, the consumer and the taste.
“I felt that there was a big vacuum for us catering to the younger generation. I started targeting the fashion element and targeting the youngsters’ taste and likings. I added value to this family business by bringing in the fashion element. In 2010 we set a plan to expand ourselves from one store in our Panjim MG Road original space to spread it into having five stores in Goa, which we completed in 2015. We went to our valued customers door steps,” said Samrudh Bharne.
When quizzed on what passion he has which he wants to fulfil in his business he responded, “I want to launch a brand in next couple of years. After having fairly good experience in marketing, retailing and selling, I want to start our own line. It will be by Bharne apparels as it is in our DNA,” said Samrudh Bharne.
His brother, Siddhant Bharne has also come into the family business of fabric, apparel and fashion.
