NRI, Moni Varma, founder of Veetee Rice won the Asian of the year

London, Nov. 21, 2006
Col. Kanwal Randhawa

NRI Moni Varma, 57, founder of the Veetee brand basmati rice have won the Asian of the year Award for 2006. He said he was "humbled" because it was a recognition of his hard work by the community.

Moni Varma had his early education in Ludhiana before moving to Malawi and the UK. He grew up in the former Rhodesia, in the area that later became Malawi. The youngest of eight siblings, he was born to Indian parents, both from business families, but spent his formative years in Africa. After completing his O levels, Varma headed to India to continue his studies, but returned to Malawi soon after with the ultimate view of moving to the UK.

He started as a salesman for a printing firm and demonstrated the passion for business that came to characterise his career. Despite a starting salary of only £30, he was regularly taking home up to five times that with commission. His talent for selling had been recognised, and the desire to study began to recede.

Varma invested £300 in a small machine to manufacture barbed wire - the company desperately needed a salesman but couldn't afford to pay. Not for the last time in his career, Moni Varma took the risk and the job - solely on commission and a stake in the company. Within 3 years, capitalising on the developing country's need for steel, Varma had grown the company enormously and had become a major player in the burgeoning steel industry.

• In 1971, the company was such a success, the then President of Malawi, Hastings Banda, bought it, keeping Varma on as MD.
• By 1979 the company was making a clear £1 million profit and was the most successful company in Banda's portfolio. Within a couple of years of the sale, Varma though was already anxious for a new challenge. In 1974 he found it, in the shape of a new company, founded with the aid of loans from the Commonwealth Development Corporation and the World Bank, manufacturing corrugated iron. Again Varma's drive and expertise came to the fore, and the company quickly turned profit after two months, defying the Bank's predictions for a longer-term turnaround.
• In 1980, he met and married his wife Shobah, and with her moved to the UK. There he maintained his interest in the steel industry working with Staffordshire firm, Haul Engineering Holdings and a year later breaking away to set up on his own.
  

Veetee Rice Start

Nothing quite tempts the British palate like a good curry. Roast beef and apple pie might hit the spot for our grandparents, but the present generation of consumers are more likely to reach for a second helping of balti than brussel sprouts. The exotic cuisine to which the nation has become addicted has a standard white, fluffy accompaniment: rice.

Rice has been a staple food in the east for thousands of years. In the last 30 years, its rise in popularity in the UK has been nothing short of meteoric. With food related health scares regularly in the news, rice has had the good fortune to enjoy an excellent press. Apart from a brief decline in sales at the height of the Atkins diet craze, it has consistently been heralded as ‘good for you’.

Consumers have found it irresistible. These days, a packet of Basmati rice in the store cupboard is more commonplace than a tin of custard or gravy powder. As endless variations such as wild rice and fragrant Thai rice are brought to market, it is steadily nudging aside these old favourites. One of the companies instrumental in some way in rice becoming the nation’s favourite is Veetee Rice based in Rochester, Kent.

• In 1985, Varma was approached by relatives in the food industry in India seeking rice buyers in the UK. Although initially disinclined to turn his attention from the steel industry, family loyalty won through and Varma went about setting up meetings with millers and importers.
• His keen business eye quickly spotted a potentially lucrative gap in the market - at that time, the then EEC was imposing a levy of £450/tonne on imported white rice, whereas brown rice could be imported at the much lower rate of £200/tonne. It became clear that what was needed was a mill in situ in the UK. In a joint venture with his relations, the Thapar family, in India, Varma founded Veetee rice - the name taken from the initials of each family.
• By 1986 the company was up and running: the Basmati market in this country was, at that time, underdeveloped and long grain rice was predominant. However the Asian community provided a sufficient market, and Varma was quick to spot the trend towards ethnic cuisine. From an initial investment of £200,000 in the factory at Perivale, the business grew and by 1989 the need for larger premises became apparent.
• In 1990, Veetee Rice transferred its home to the Medway, where larger premises and excellent transport afforded by the river presented new possibilities. The new site required huge investment, particularly as all buildings had to be piled to avoid subsidence. The current factory has received over £20 million investment, and has the facility to carry out the cleaning, milling and packing of different rice grains, all under one roof.
• In 2011, Veetee was listed as the 8th fastest growing company in the UK in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100.
• In July 2022, Veetee partnered with DS Smith to design a resealable rice pack that is recyclable.

Veetee are currently the largest rice supplier in the UK retail trade, supplying both Veetee and supermarket own-brands. Veetee are also unique in rice manufacturing, as they are the only company to have factories in both India and Pakistan, making them perfectly place to supply both communities. Future investments will ensure that Veetee stay ahead of the game.

Rice arrives at the plant in the form of brown rice direct from rice mills in India, Pakistan, the US, and Thailand among other countries. Crewe described the processes that must take place before it finds its way into the supermarket stacking system. “We clean it to remove surplus material and contaminants, which might have found their way in. Then we remove the brown layer, which accounts for about 12 per cent of the total product weight. What we are left with is the white rice that you are used to seeing on your plate,” he added.

Nothing goes to waste. The brown husk that is removed in the milling process is directed via reverse jet filters into silos where it is bulk loaded onto lorries destined for the animal feed industry.

The plant is highly automated, but still employs over 100 people. He explained that there is a core marketing team to support the Veetee brand. “Veetee is a consumer brand and is well recognised within the ethnic community. We believe the quality of our product equals or surpasses that of other brands, but it takes a lot of effort to get that message across,” he explained.

"Combining quality with a passion for food is the Veetee philosophy"

• Varma is involved in a number of outside interests. He maintains a rice mill, cashew nut farm and pulses plant in his native Malawi, as well as a paint factory and dabbling in the odd steel project.
• One of his great loves is cricket, and he was hugely involved in the redevelopment of the Oval cricket ground, organising the Asia versus the Rest of the World match, as well as sponsoring Bangladesh in the World Cup.
• Sporting enthusiasm is golf, and on days when he's not to be found in the office, he's probably polishing up his very respectable handicap of 11.