Sona Sikka, an esteemed and trusted brand in edible groundnut oil since 1984, was introduced with a healthy lifestyle as its core component. Because of its quality and packaging fortification into a product with immense nutritional value, while retaining its natural characteristics, the brand has earned recognition as liquid gold among consumers over time.
Late Tejumal Chhugani's humble, but determined start in 1984 to transform Sona Sikka into a household brand in the edible oil industry, was aided by his son Shyam Sunder Chhugani, chairman of Sona Sikka, who took over the family business in 1987.
Shyam Sunder Chhugani's subsequent steps were always towards development and innovation. His goal was to ensure safety, maintain quality, and deliver in an environmentally responsible manner. To ensure quality and superiority, the brand introduced aluminium caps on its 15-litre packaging, making Sona Sikka the first brand in the edible oil industry to do so.
Chhugani has always been at the forefront of recognising the best practices in the business industry. On November 17, 'Dainik Bhaskar', India's daily Hindi newspaper, in collaboration with Sona Sikka, organised an award ceremony at Crowne Plaza Deira in Dubai to recognise the top 55 renowned industrialists from Rajasthan, India, for their contributions to the business fraternity with the 'Southeast Asia Business Icon Award.'
Chhugani has championed the philosophy that success follows those who follow their heart. The story of Sona Sikka scaling unprecedented heights is all about the hard work put in by him. He toiled hard day and night to realise his dream of turning Sona Sikka into a significant edible oil brand. To promote the brand and build a dealer and distribution network, he went shop to shop on his scooter with no hesitation at all. Harnessing the best sales acumen and well-appointed marketing strategies, he took extensive promotional measures like giving schemes to his dealers from time to time, which helped in posting a gradual increase in the dealer base. In addition to generously sharing profits with dealers, he went on to reward them for their sales with gold and silver coins as well as many other gifts commensurate with the sale, including foreign trips to dealers and distributors to increase brand loyalty, and this was done regardless of sales targets.
All of Chhugani's efforts yielded results, with sales gradually increasing from 1,400 tins per month to 200,000 tins per month, and the dealer and distributor network, which was nearly non-existent when he began, now numbering over 500.
By gaining the trust of dealers and consumers by increasing the quality, Sona Sikka has developed into a brand that has reached such heights that dealers now book their advance orders for delivery by one month.
Chhugani has been at the forefront of technology since its inception — whether it be his efforts to develop the use of corrugated boxes for packing, his use of technology to thwart brand duplicity to ensure the authenticity of the product, or his digital exposure of the brand.
Joining the bandwagon of the successful industrialist, his son Rohit and daughter Neha joined the company as directors in 2011, making the most of unconventional practices by taking the company to social and digital media platforms. Recently, the brand added two new products, premium mustard oil and filtered groundnut oil, to strengthen its market presence and leverage Sona Sikka brand's reputation. Introduced in 2020, these two products have also been well received in the market, owing to the brand's reputation for quality and purity.