Calling Ashish Khandelwal a risk-taker may be defining him mildly. He stood tall in the face of an epidemic to protect his brand, made TV commercials for mustard oil, shook up the market with new packaging, and more, to build BL Agro into a diversified foods and FMCG business
1998, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Ashish Khandelwal had a ‘crushing’ debut in the family business. “I had an ironical beginning,” recalls the third-generation entrepreneur, alluding to his not-so-memorable induction into the business of edible mustard oil. “The seeds are crushed and pressed… I was also undergoing a similar emotion,” he smiles. It was 1998, North India was in the grip of a deadly dropsy epidemic caused by adulterated edible mustard oil, and the government banned the sale of mustard oil—both packed and loose. The Khandelwals, who were into bulk oil trading till then, started a consumer brand—Bail Kolhu—in 1994, and two years later, launched big tin packs. In 1998, mustard suddenly became untouchable, most of the traders migrated to other commodities, and the Khandelwals emerged as the lone warriors. The young entrepreneur went against the grain, mustered courage, and decided to bide the storm.