The food retail sector is made up of wet markets, dry markets, night markets, grocers, sundry shops, convenience stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets to name a few. These different channels cater to the different segments of the Malaysian population. In general, sundry shops make up the large segment in this sector, however, the number of sundry shops have been on the decline due to certain factors. The rise of international retail stores has brought about challenges to local ones but that did not deter Nanthini from hopping onto the bandwagon herself especially during the unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The MWAW team spoke to Nanthini Theva, the co-founder of 51 Grocer to learn more about the establishment, challenges she faced in the F&B line as well as her hopes for the future.
Get to know Nanthini
Nanthini Theva is well known for being a part of Pampas Group of Restaurants. Pampas was established in the year 2005 by her younger brother, Kana Theva with its first ever outlet at Changkat Bukit Bintang. The restaurant was founded based on the dream to serve quality and affordable steaks in a cosy, semi- fine dining setting with an unchallenged service.
Fast forward 12 years later, Pampas has grown into a household name synonymous with quality succulent and grilled to perfection steaks. It is without a doubt that their loyal patrons and customers have stayed on with them due to the quality of the food served and service provided.
The branches under Pampas Group of Restaurants are: Pampas Boutique Steakhouse (Publika), Pampas Reserve Steakhouse (Suasana, Bukit Ceylon), Pampas Sky Dining Steakhouse (The Shore, Melaka), Pampas Steakhouse Old Malaya and Pier 12 Seafood Tavern (Old Malaya, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur). Apart from the chain of restaurants, Pampas Group owns Prantara Boutique Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and now 51 Grocer at Persiaran Syed Putra, Kuala Lumpur.
"You can have the 'give-up' attitude if you are in F&B. You can't give up. You would have to fight for it and you have to make sure when you start something, it takes off and not stop half-way."
Diving into the F&B industry
Prior to her career in the food and beverage (F&B) industry, she worked in the corporate sector of the insurance industry. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of London. She did not desire to practice law upon graduation and this was why she joined the corporate world. She shared that she enjoyed every moment working in the insurance industry. However, she left the industry to hop on board the F&B industry to lend a hand to her brother’s business – Pampas Group of Restaurants. “I loved it but because my brother was expanding so I helped him. He didn’t force me
or anything but I thought let’s build it,” she said.
Nanthini is the Group Director of Communications and Legal Affairs for Pampas Group. Under Legal Affairs, she manages the legal aspects of the business. The company has in-house lawyers as well to handle matters but she manages them. As for the communications side of it, she handles media, public relations and marketing.
With regards to the knowledge gained in the F&B industry, she owes it all to her brother, Kana Theva. “He’s my guru, I’ll say. I’m not shy to say he is my younger brother. Until today, I will say that he is my guru in business,” she said.
She is thankful for the unfaltering support from her family as well. She is grateful for her youngest brother, Ruben Theva, her parents and her husband Ganesh Shanmugam for being her pillars of strength. Nanthini shared that her parents had always encouraged her to pursue her goals and a strong piece of advice from her father she holds to heart till today; "There's no limit to what you can do, unless you choose to be limited."
"F&B is challenging. You have to be strong-willed. You have to have the patience, a very high level of tolerance, integrity, perseverance and ethics. These are very important."
51 Grocer, your friendly neighbourhood store
The idea for the grocer came about during the pandemic. As most businesses were shut down, strategies had to be made to tackle difficult situations. During the MCO, both Nanthini and her husband brainstormed and came up with the idea. The two then came up with a standard operating procedure (SOP) and strategy for the grocery store.
51 Grocer is a neighbourhood conceptual grocery store with the aim of reaching out to the neighbourhood and assisting customers with their needs.
The company runs under the mom-and-pop concept. Mom-and-pop is the colloquial term used for small businesses that are either independently or family owned. The products sold are usually catered to the local community they’re set up in.
The grocer caters to the daily necessities of the middle class and above as well as expatriates. Customers can expect products such as organic chicken and vegetables within the mid-range cost.
Challenges within the F&B industry
Every company within any industry undergoes hurdles and for Nanthini, she had her share of it too. When it comes to the F&B world, it tends to be really complicated and challenging. Among the challenges she faced was employing staff as she wanted to find the right team.
“The challenges are staffing, employees. It’s the same thing, you have to get the right team. When you have the right team, everything falls in place. If you have one person who is not in sync with the group, you have challenges because this one bad apple is going to poison the rest of it,” she said.
Due to this, the company is really cautious when it comes to hiring their employees. They have a core team that works well together in running the show.
Treading the MCO
Due to the unprecedented times of the pandemic, the restaurants had to shut down. Nanthini shared that they had to survive on their savings (capital). Despite the difficulties, she ensured that the welfare of her staff was well taken cared off. “We had to take care of them no matter what. We took care of their salaries, household things like even during Hari Raya, we gave them a goodie bag, chicken for them to cook on that day. It was only fair for them. It’s a celebration, they can’t go back, they can’t go anywhere so we gave them like a package of chicken, rice, oil, onions – the necessities,” she said.
Apart from that, the bulk of the profit come from events held at the restaurants. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, they were unable to host any. To tackle this, Pampas Group began an online-delivery service. “We did it through Facebook, marketing and then we all have our database of customers so we blast out via WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. So what we did was blast all these messages so we managed to get at least some sort of income instead of zero,” she said.
Juggling career and family
Nanthini is a mother of a 3-year-old son. When it comes to juggling both career and family, she says that it is all about time management.
Nanthini says, “It is all about time management. As easy as it sounds, it is not that simple. Of course, I miss my son while I am at work but I always make time for him.”
Both Nanthini and her husband cater to the needs of their son. They have a helper to assist them in looking after him when they are away at work. As soon as they are home, they dedicate their time and attention to care for their son and his needs.
Hopes for the future
Nanthini hopes to open more branches of 51 Grocer in the near future via partnership. She doesn’t want to dive right into franchises as she wants to build the name and brand. She desires to expand within Klang Valley and Melaka.
Advice for young female entrepreneurs
Nanthini advises young entrepreneurs to be strong-willed to withstand the challenges. She says, “F&B is challenging. You have to be strong-willed. You have to have the patience, a very high level of tolerance, integrity, perseverance and ethics. These are very important.” She also shared that giving up is not an option. “You can’t have the ‘give-up’ attitude if you are in F&B. You can’t give up. You would have to fight for it and you have to make sure when you start something, it takes off and not stop half-way,” she said.
Nanthini shared that she aims to build people and encourage young entrepreneurs to work together and inspire each other towards a better tomorrow. Being hands on with operations as well as managing the administration allows us to network with people from all walks of life.
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