This company was the first to introduce laser technology in cutting and polishing diamonds in India in the early 1980's. In the XXI century it re-discovered Botswana as a country not just mining rough diamonds, but also manufacturing polished diamonds and diamond jewelry. This company has many awards and honors. And in June 2011, its leader will be named “Pioneer Honoree” in Las Vegas. This legendary Indian jewelry company is Shrenuj. Vishal Doshi, Shrenuj Group Executive Director, has kindly agreed to answer the questions filed by Rough&Polished.
Judging by the financial statements of Shrenuj, 2010 was a successful year for your company. What were the key achievements and events in the last year for Shrenuj?
2010 was, in many ways, a historic year for us. As we witnessed a remarkable recovery from the economic downturn of 2008-9, we were able to establish our footprint in southern Africa. The President of Botswana inaugurated our diamond-manufacturing unit in Botswana in May 2010. Last month, we commissioned Botswana’s very first jewelry manufacturing unit, adding another chapter to value addition within producing countries. We also launched the patented Embrace setting in jewelry as well as an iPad app, Jewel Pad Touch, which provides a very unique buying experience for the consumer.
According to Rapaport, the Indian Diamond and Color Stone Association (IDCA) will name Mr. Shreyas K. Doshi IDCA's “Pioneer Honoree” for his dynamic contribution to the transformation of the Indian diamond industry during the JCK Las Vegas show on June 4, 2011. Please tell us more about how your company helped the evolution of India's diamond industry?
Our founder, late Kalidas S Doshi, entered the diamond industry in 1906, when the industry was in a very nascent stage. Since then, over three generations, the promoter family has been instrumental in pioneering many technological and managerial initiatives. One of such key initiative was the introduction of laser technology in cutting and polishing of diamonds in early 1980s. Today, it is the industry standard. We have also collaborated with many leading suppliers of equipment and machinery in piloting their new equipments and developing new cutting techniques. As for the managerial initiatives, we are amongst the first few companies from India with a large global footprint. Today, our diamond manufacturing units are rated amongst the technologically sound and most advanced processing units across the globe. As a recognition of this superior performance, we were retained by one of the world’s leading jewelry retailers to help them establish a diamond cutting unit in Canada.
Did you participate in the Hong Kong Jewelry Show last March? Which of the international jewelry exhibitions are the most important for Shrenuj? Which of them is your company planning to attend in 2011?
We are present in all the major jewelry trade shows worldwide. This includes the Las Vegas Show, Hong Kong Show (March and September), BaselWorld, VicenzaOro, India International Jewellery Show, Dubai Show, IIJS Signature, and others. We have a very strong B2B footprint in the diamond as well as jewelry domain and these trade shows present an excellent opportunity for us to showcase our latest product range and innovations.
As we learned, innovation and heritage are the integral part of Shrenuj's business model. Were you able to maintain balance between modern and traditional values and introduce new innovative products to your customers in recent years?
Our history in the industry spans over 105 years. The business has been passed down through four generations, each bringing new energy and guiding the business to even greater levels of success. Our heritage provides a platform for growth, allowing us to tackle new challenges and opportunities with experience and insight.
Our history also shapes the way we approach business relationships. We value partnerships that strengthen over time, and embrace new opportunities with a long-term view. Our loyal and growing customer base bears testament to this, each relationship built on creating mutual value.
Corporate integrity and a commitment to responsible and ethical business practices are central to our business. We combine clear and transparent reporting processes with strong corporate governance. Over time, we have developed an outstanding reputation for integrity within the industry.
We also value innovation and apply it to every facet of our business. This drives development of remarkable new products, ever-improving quality standards, and more efficient processes.
We have created a number of new and unusual polished diamond cuts through our business unit ‘Trapz’, several of which are patented. We have received numerous industry design awards over the years, and introduced exciting new concepts to consumers, such as multi-functional and interchangeable designs.
This commitment to innovation and continuous improvement keeps us at the leading edge of industry developments.
Retail activities of your company are focused on the major growth economies of India and China, which are served by two distinct chains. Can you briefly explain the key differences between these two brands? What are specific needs of the Indian consumer?
We acquired Hong Kong retailer Daily Jewellery (now ‘Joliesse’) in 2003. We transformed the Joliesse operations into a high-quality fashion brand through a complete re-branding and store refurbishment programme. We increased the average ticket price by over 50% and shifted its clientele to a less price-conscious and more fashion-conscious consumer.
Joliesse currently has ten stores in Hong Kong, with plans for a further two in the next year. We are also planning to open the first Joliesse store in mainland China. The brand has achieved wide recognition and credibility in Hong Kong, the regional trend-setting market, which will enable it to effectively catalyse growth in China.
Our second retail operation, ‘Diti’, is a chain of shop-in-shop retail outlets in India. It was launched in 2007.
The first phase of Diti outlets are shop-in-shops, located in luxury lifestyle stores. We currently have the penetration of Diti in the top 29 cities across India with 100 points of sales. The products of Diti are positioned as affordable luxury products. The product range comprises mid-priced exclusive studded gold and platinum jewellery. This approach appeals to upwardly mobile middle-class Indian consumer purchasing habits and enables it to rapidly build scale.
How well is your business growing in the Chinese market?
We have witnessed enormous growth in our operations within Hong Kong and China. Chinese diamond demand is not only growing but also widening in its reach. Over the past one year, we have seen acceptance of newer qualities of diamonds which is a welcome trend. Though the present demand is largely from the more effluent southern part of China, we are quite bullish on the growth coming from the northern parts in the next few years.
India at present is still witnessing shortage of rough diamonds, which is a major concern for the diamond processing industry. Does this affect your company in any way?
We have seen massive increase in prices of rough diamonds over the past 10 months or so. And this increase has not plateaued yet. Polished prices normally trail such an increase in the input prices of raw material. This creates a short term pressure on operating margins. This is not specific to any company but is applicable to industry at large.
In our case, our global presence enables us to shift sales efforts toward the markets that are offering relatively better margins at this time, even if at a lower volume. This helps us sustain our bottom line. Once prices for rough diamonds will show some normalcy, we will gain from the demand in the established markets.
Shrenuj Botswana is set to unveil the country's first diamond jewellery manufacturing plant in Botswana next month. What are your expectations of a new facility in that country?
This factory is a part of our commitment to add maximum value to diamonds within producing countries. We have already commissioned the factory and are currently engaged in transferring the skills to the local workforce. We plan to convert this facility as our base to supply high end jewelry to the US market. We envisage a huge growth in scale and volume output from this new facility over the next five years.
What do you think about the plans of Indian diamond polisher and retailer Suashish Diamonds to set up the second diamond jewellery manufacturing plant in Botswana?
It's a very welcome move. For an industry to grow, we need a large skill base. With more entities joining the fray, we will be able to make this an attractive proposition to the eligible workforce and have access to the best of the talent available within Botswana. A larger scale also leads to setting up ancillaries within the region as well as suppliers setting up a base to provide consumables. We expect and welcome more companies to set up their jewelry manufacturing base within Botswana.
While Indian and Chinese jewelry markets look very promising, the United States is currently still the biggest consumer of diamonds in the world. Does Shrenuj consider entering this market at some point?
We have always been catering to the US market. We acquired Simon Golub and Sons in 2007, increasing our footprint within the US. We are quite focused on the opportunities within the US market and have a very well defined strategy to achieve significant growth in revenues from the US market. However, for us, the US will remain a B2B focus, as against India and China, where we have B2B as well as B2C presence.
Which kind of jewellery or precious stones do you personally like the most? Do you believe that precious stones can attract good fortune, improve health of a person that wears them?
The allure of these stones is unavoidable, especially when one sees them throughout the day! I do not know if precious stones bring good fortune but they certainly add to the image and self confidence of individuals. This, I am sure, helps them do better at work. Wearing a stone alone might not change the destiny but believing in oneself will certainly will. I do not know if gifting a diamond ring will change any fortunes but will certainly is an excellent expression of your feelings towards your beloved.
Dasha Platonova, Editor of the Rough&Polished Asian Bureau in Shanghai
