Spice legacy lives on
GORIMA’S spice emporium was founded in 1979 by Khatija Mall. Today, it is run by her nephews, brothers Yunus and Arshad Moola, and Feroz Khan.
Arshad Moola, 47, said the business was born out of a passion, need and a will to improve the lives of others by enhancing the flavours they were exposed to.
He said the Magi Masala was the product that started it all.
“Aunty Khatija got married into a family that was food conscious, just like her own. Her aunt-in-law was Zuleikha Mayat, who wrote Indian Delights, which was a staple recipe book in most Indian homes. She helped to develop Magi Masala with Aunty Khatija.
“In the beginning, it was tough for Aunty Khatija because no one knew her product. She approached a buyer from OK Bazaars, which was the biggest supermarket chain at the time, and asked how she could get her brand known.
“He advised her to go door-to-door, and to flea markets and cooking demonstrations. He said she should get people to taste what her product was all about. That’s exactly what she did, along with her husband Junaid and her brothers. Eventually, she got a listing with OK Bazaars.”
Moola said that in 1986, Mall launched six more products. In that same year, The Workshop, the first mall in the Durban CBD, also opened.
“Being apartheid days, it was mostly white retailers and being a mall in Durban, it had to have some kind of Eastern flavour. So they allocated one corner of the mall to black traders, Oriental, Roopanands and us. There was also a Chinese takeaway and a shawarma place. Since 1986, we are the only surviving independent retailer at The Workshop.”
Moola said Mall was relentless in her business pursuits.
“She was unafraid to approach people and ask questions on how to expand her business. Whenever she got any harsh criticism or backlash, she just brushed it off and carried on.
“I think that’s what made her successful. She always had a can-do attitude and wouldn’t let people’s prejudices or cultural beliefs hold her back.
“But she won over a lot of people through being a kitchen person. As the saying goes, ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’, and she understood that well. In her home environment, she was the typical Indian woman. But in the workspace, she made sure she was heard and stood out.
“She also had strong ethics and values, and believed in the importance of business integrity.
“She officially retired in December 2018 because there were other pursuits to follow. This included a recipe book
that she wanted to publish. She spent the whole of 2019 working on it. We were supposed to have a big launch in 2020 until Covid happened,” he said. Mall died of an illness in 2021. Moola, who has a BCom in business informatics from the University of Johannesburg, said his involvement in Gorima’s began when he was a child.
“Khatija was my mom’s sister. My brother and I grew up in Johannesburg and our friends thought our coming to Durban for the school holidays meant endless days at the beach. We were actually helping with the store and barely saw the beach in those days,” said Moola, who also has an MBA from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
“I remember being in their first little factory labelling the masalas that were being packed into boxes. We also accompanied my uncle when he went out to different supermarkets to supply and merchandise the stock. So we had exposure and understanding of the business from a young age, and were given more responsibilities.
“As we got better with handling cash, we became cashiers. When I got my driving licence, it became my responsibility to drive the delivery vehicle or pick up stock.
“After obtaining my degree, I went to the UK for two years on a working holiday. When I returned in 2000, they asked me to join the family business. At that point, they had three stores; The Workshop, Musgrave and the Pavilion. By that time, my brother Yunus had already been in the business for a few years.”
He said Gorima’s had to overcome many challenges.
“When we set up our first distribution warehouse in 2000, we were entering a space we were not familiar with. There were challenges in learning how to do distribution.
“Staffing is a regular challenge. Hiring
the right staff to do the job and getting used to the idea that you can’t do everything yourself.
“Covid was also a really tough time for most businesses. We were not as badly affected because we fell under essential services. We opened and revamped a few stores in both 2020 and 2021.”
Moola said becoming a well-known brand was a hallmark of their success.
“We don’t sit still. We are always on the go trying to be innovative and introducing new products. We aren’t just a boring old grocery store; we like to create an experience for our customers.”
He said technology had shifted the way they did business.
“We were doing things the conventional way up until 2018, but having a proper enterprise resource planning (ERP) system has helped us move in heaps and bounds in terms of forecasting what our stock requirements would be for satisfying customer needs.”
Gorima’s currently has 24 stores in South Africa and employs around 400 people.
He said the five-year plan was to have 100 stores around the African continent.
Moola said labour laws should be amended to make it easier to run a business.
“The laws are strict for a reason but can be very onerous on a start-up business where you have two or three employees. There should be a different set of rules for smaller businesses as it becomes a barrier to entry.
“The government also needs to introduce an entrepreneurial culture in schools to be in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution and artificial intelligence.
“The current education system does not link the content learnt to the real world. We need to encourage entrepreneurship.”
His advice to anyone wanting to start a business?
“Don’t sweat the small stuff.
“I’d say patience, perseverance and persistence are important. You have to keep on fighting and not expect things to be a bed of roses from the get-go.”