How a former L&T employee built a Rs 220 crore turnover industrial catering business

 

Coming from a humble farming family in Sempali village, Vellore district, Tamil Nadu, DRE Reddy completed a hotel management course at the Institute of Hotel Management, Chennai and pursued a career in the hospitality industry in mid 80s.

As a child who studied in a village government school in Middle Tamil until class 10 went on to set up an industrial catering business with a turnover of Rs 220 crore based in Chennai is a truly inspiring story. Reddy's CRCL LLP operates canteens for companies including Ashok Leyland, Wipro, Larsen and Toubro, Hitachi and MRF, which serve around 1.5 lakh meals a day with a staff of 3,000 staff. They have around 75 customers across the country including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Pondicherry, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.CRCL operates 42 canteens with attached kitchens while around 30+ canteens are served by three centralized kitchens.

Lly price, says Reddy, 58, CEO and Managing Partner, CRCL. Our employees stay with us, and we offer them great growth. An unskilled worker retires as a leader in our organization because we provide them with these opportunities to grow and prosper. Reddy has been a go-getter all his life. He has seized opportunities and excels in the places where he has worked. He spent his childhood in Sempali, where his father Ramachandra Reddy grew paddy rice and sugar cane. Furthermore, he has three brothers, a younger brother and two older sisters. His mother, Eeshwaramma, was a housewife and supervisor in the school in her village.

After grade 10, his family sent him to the nearby town of Vellore, where his father's brother's family lived, to study grades 11 and 12. He passed Year 12 from Sri Venkateshwara High School, Vellore, in 1980. And for the first time in my life I was exposed to the outside world,” Reddy explains. "My uncle was active in the Lion's Club and often accompanied me to meetings, and my social life improved. I also got into the habit of reading the newspaper every day thanks to him. After class 12, he studied hotel management at the Institute of Hotel Management, Chennai and entered as a trainee at a TAJ Group property in Mahabalipuram, near Chennai in 1983.

In November 1984, he joined Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives Ltd (TEL), a public company, in Katpadi, the closest to his village. TEL had just started and had the mission of housing around 25 foreign nationals and taking care of their food. Subsequently, he also set up a canteen for the workers of the TEL Factory. “The first five years were very exciting, and I was happy to add value to things. In 1, I got married to Radha Rani and a year later my son Gokul Krishna was born,” Reddy explains. In 1992, Reddy felt there were no more challenges in TEL and decided to seek change. He planned to move to Chennai, where there would be many opportunities for him and where he could provide a better education for his son. “I came across a newspaper ad from Larsen and Toubro (L&T). L&T w I was looking for a canteen supervisor and had a similar experience,” Reddy recalls.

"I traveled to Chennai from Katpadi with my wife, stayed in a hotel and went for the interview. I got the job even though there were a lot of applicants."

This was a significant change from a government job to the private sector. But my wife supported my decision because she understood that all I wanted was job satisfaction. So, in July 1992, I joined L&T in Chennai. The company had a good canteen for 40 people and wanted a professional to set up the system. Reddy changed the food packaging system and introduced variety foods. Within a year, he made the changes he wanted and started looking for other challenges. “They had a lawn, which was outsourced for maintenance, so I took the job. In three years, it became the best lawn among the various L&T sites,” explains Reddy."

Management recognized my leadership skills and groomed me. I received seven promotions in the 14 years I worked there. In 2000, Reddy completed a one-year part-time course in Human Resources, which has improved his overall profile. Reddy was a key member of the L&T management team that established L&T Demag Plastics Machinery in Manapakkam, outskirts of Chennai in 2006. In 2007, Reddy was ready for new challenges. He was more ambitious, and he wanted to start something on his own.

He partnered with C Ramachandran, who ran a catering business in Chennai. Reddy had known CR since 1992 and had developed a liking to him and often put him in touch with potential clients CR had come the hard way, He had come to Chennai from Kerala at the age of 14 after dropping out of school. He had gone from washing dishes to cutting vegetables to making idles and becoming a master chef.

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