MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
Chutney queen Geeta Samtani
Geeta Samtani, now in her 70s, founded premium indian food brand Geeta’s Foods 30 years ago. She lives in London with husband Beni, who works with her, and has two daughters and two granddaughters.
I NEVER expected to start a food business. My father gave us all the same education and upbringing, unusual in an Asian family back then, so I planned to be a lawyer. But, then, in 1964, I married Beni, a film distributor, and we moved to Trinidad.
We had a lot of mango trees in our garden, so one season I experimented with my mother’s recipe for mango chutney. We gave it to all our friends and family. Then when I was raising money for charity, I started charging. The chutney sold brilliantly and it occurred to me I could turn it into a business.
But it was only after we’d moved to London because of my husband’s career — he had 16 cinemas in the UK — that I founded Geeta’s Foods in 1990. I was still making it in my kitchen, then a friend of mine who had a few delis in Knightsbridge and Kensington in West London put it in her shops. She made me use proper jars with labels. I got the artist who designed our film posters to design the packaging so it looked like a premium brand. I took my chutneys to a trade show and a buyer from Safeway stopped to taste them. He wanted me to supply 100 shops. I asked him to wait for six months so I could move the business out of my kitchen.
I travelled to India and found a manufacturer and a distributor who could ship the chutney to London. I’m a stickler when it comes to using the best fruit. The mango season is short. After cutting, the mangos are put in brine and preserved for the year.
We grind our own chillies and only use natural ingredients. I’m biased, but I think the taste is unique. I always dreamed of my chutney becoming a condiment, like Heinz Tomato Ketchup.
My husband looks after the finance, and my daughter Anita runs sales and marketing, but I’ll never retire. I’m working for me. I get up at 3am sometimes with new ideas.
Our products are in most major UK retailers, with annual retail sales of close to £4 million. As a store cupboard staple, we’re producing more than ever during the coronavirus pandemic.
If you can find the courage to pursue your dream, productivity will soar. If you’re doing something you hate, it doesn’t make sense. Change what you don’t like — you only have one life.