Empowering the Future: Second Generation Poultry Entrepreneurs
“It is very important to maintain core competence and never forget the origins – always focus on one vision and build around that instead of attempting to dabble in several different avenues.”
Aniket Parikh
In our February 2024 issue, we are excited to present an insightful conversation with Mr. Aniket Parikh, a visionary leader and the driving force behind Stallen South Asia Private Limited.
With a distinguished academic background in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University, USA, Mr. Parikh’s journey reflects a dynamic blend of strategic consulting for Fortune 500 companies in the United States and a dedicated commitment to the family business. Under his stewardship, Stallen has emerged as a global player in the veterinary industry, showcasing a diverse portfolio and a significant international footprint. Let’s delve into the insights and experiences that have shaped Mr. Aniket Parikh’s impactful role in the industry.
Poultry Creations: Could you briefly introduce yourself to our readers, sharing your professional background and key experiences that have led to your current role?
Aniket: I worked for Accenture Strategy, out of their Washington DC office as a management consultant to their Fortune 500 clients across the country. After a 2 year stint, with roles spanning several industries I returned to the family business fray, initially looking after the international markets and business development for Stallen. In 2017 I took over in the capacity of CEO at Stallen, looking after the entire domestic business as well as the international factories and sales. My global experience with different cultures, ability to speak several international languages coupled with my Indian work experience allowed me to shape Stallen into a true Indian multi-national providing the global quality and commitment in terms of product quality as well as service and brand ethos across our different organizational groups.
Poultry Creations: How did your academic background in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology influence your approach to innovation in the poultry industry, and what drove your decision to transition from a Fortune 500 strategy consulting role in the US to join your family business, Stallen, in India?
Aniket: I wanted to be a part of the India growth story, which I believe has now truly picked up pace and I am glad I get to be right in the midst of it.
My technical education allows me to better understand the product and the manufacturing behind it – we have 4 manufacturing facilities, and it is this background that helps me better understand the flow rate between reactors, or capacities of our closed transfer systems. At a time during which our industry is seeing a lot of mergers and acquisitions, I am trying to emulate the organization and growth structures of those Fortune 500 companies to ensure Stallen can outpace the competition and is prepared for the future and continuity.
Poultry Creations: How do owning manufacturing facilities in Canada and the USA contribute to Stallen’s international footprint and expansion strategy, and how does the company effectively manage the challenges associated with regulatory frameworks and market dynamics across its diverse range of global operations?
Aniket: Having facilities abroad for one helps us access local talent and regional customers – but in addition during difficult times like COVID or the Suez Canal crisis, help us in still offering competitive products by minimizing the freight costs and shipping times. Having cross border facilities fosters innovation and the sharing of R&D helps us in introducing newer products and standardizing our products across the board. Today, we may be one of the only pure-play veterinary firms out of India with such a model globally and exports in all 6 in habited continents of the world. With approvals from the USDA, CFIA, Health Canada, APVMA, Russia, China and more, we offer a product and technical file that is thorough and internationally approved. We believe that our customers, be it in India or in the USA – should have access to the same product with the same quality.
Poultry Creations: Could you share insights into the key features and significance of the new therapeutics manufacturing facility that aligns with US FDA standards? How does this facility contribute to Stallen’s vision of being a global leader in veterinary pharma?
Aniket: Stallen is known to be strong in its offerings of feed additives, vaccines and certain bio-security products; however we have not been able to make an impact as strong as we would like in the therapeutic segment. It is part of our 2030 goal to ensure that a Stallen therapeutic product is available at every veterinary retailer in the country. We have the salesforce, the manufacturing capabilities, but we were lacking in this particular segment – we hope to launch a slew of new products over the next couple of years from generics to novel combinations to help fulfill this gap. With that Stallen can offer more to it’s current customers and also help tap into some of the smaller and household farms.
Poultry Creations: How does Stallen plan to position itself as the primary supplier of generic and branded veterinary drugs from India to the global market, aligning with Prime Ministers directive of India ‘Pharmacy to the World’?
Aniket: India is popularly known and accepted globally as a renowned supplier of medial drugs and formulations – generics and novel alike. However this repertoire has never carry forwarded to the veterinary side – there is no large veterinary drug manufacturer with extent of operations like the human counterparts. This opens up a large opportunity for our company and facility to obtain international approvals like the US FDA to then supply our products in developed markets through our brand name as well as in a CDMO capacity.
Poultry Creations: As a second-generation leader, how do you envision Stallen empowering the next generation of poultry entrepreneurs, both within your family and in the broader industry?
Aniket: It is an exciting time to be a part of Stallen and lead its change through the industry – we have observed that a majority of our customers and stakeholders are also going through a similar transition to the the second generation.
This change benefits all in terms of changed buying patterns, increased interest in quality, change from relationship-based procurement to quality-based procurement, to more professional management, cleaner business practices and a shared vision to move forward and offer a cleaner, greener and healthier end product to our general population.
Poultry Creations: In light of Stallen’s growth, how does the company integrate sustainability practices into its operations, especially concerning poultry healthcare?
Aniket: Stallen has always been to know to innovate and be ahead of its peers in the veterinary industry – taking a page out of the auto-makers hand book, Stallen moved its entire operations on to SAP S4 HANA – a move that helped standardize our quality benchmarks and procurement patterns. All our facilities are ISO 140001 (environmental standards) approved and we are constantly investing in our waste management programs to minimize our contributions. We are moving a variety of our promotional and marketing materials to a digital format to help minimize the carbon footprint and optimize product packaging to reduce the amount of paper consumed.
Poultry Creations: How has Mr. Amit Parikh, your father and founder of Stallen South Asia Private Limited, influenced and supported your entry into the veterinary industry?
Aniket: 2024 will close out an entire 360 in terms of our company’s growth cycle. My father, Mr Amit Parikh, entered the veterinary industry as a contract manufacturer to Novartis (now Elanco), for their poultry products in India. As a family, we used to focus purely on contract manufacturing for large pharmaceutical companies, and the veterinary business was an offshoot of the same. Today this offshoot has carved its on niche employing more than 400 people as a group with presence across the globe. We aim to use the standards and vision that he laid out in in 1990 while entering the industry to further enlarge our position within this space.
Poultry Creations: What do you see as the most significant challenges and opportunities in the veterinary pharmaceutical industry, and how does Stallen plan to navigate and capitalize on them?
Aniket: The current barrier to entry in India for new manufactures, especially in the feed additive segment is extremely low, or almost non-existent – this opens up an opportunity for a lot of unorganized players and adulterated products in the marketplace. These low cost products pose a temporary risk, disrupting the pricing models of more established and quality based firms. Standardization and government regulation will help ‘clean-up’ the number of companies and put Indian manufactured products in line with their international counter parts. Fortunately Stallen is already heavily invested in this cap-ex and is future proofed and ready for any such regulations – this will allow us to outpace our competitors and give the customers the products they deserve.
Poultry Creations: Based on your journey with Stallen, what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to enter the veterinary pharmaceutical or related industries, especially those from the next generation of family businesses?
Aniket: It is very important to maintain core competence and never forget the origins – always focus on one vision and build around that instead of attempting to dabble in several different avenues. Building on core competence helps the internal structure and invariably affects the positioning of the company – like the old saying – better to be a master of one then a jack of all.
Poultry Creations: What strategies do you consider essential for achieving sustainable growth and success in navigating the evolving trends and challenges within the poultry industry in India?
Aniket: The Indian business landscape is one for business schools – with various language and cultural barriers – it is very important to not have a standard template to your approach but instead customize and adapt to the situation. Hence our handling of customers, timely deliveries, pricing structures and marketing efforts all are constantly adapted region to region to ensure we are being all inclusive. At the end of the day, the most important formula for India is competitive price + quality product = long term loyalty.
Poultry Creations: What specific improvements or additions would you suggest to make Poultry Creations Magazine more valuable and relevant to its readers in the poultry industry?
Aniket: I think the magazine’s dynamic approach is going to position It well amongst the historical publications which somewhere have been diluted with way too many advertisements. The magazine should encourage and foster.
