From Labourer To 'Jeera King': How Dhannalal Jain And JK Masale Maintained Its 67
From working as a labourer in one of the largest wholesale markets in eastern India, to middleman in the spice trade, to spice trading and finally earning the Jeera King moniker—this is the story of Dhannalal Jain and JK Masale
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Forbes India
It all started in 1948 when Dhannalal Jain in his early 20s decided to move from the drylands of Badhal village in Rajasthan to go work in one of the largest wholesale markets in eastern India. In the initial days, he worked as a labourer in the narrow and crowded lanes of Kolkata’s Burrabazar, loading and unloading goods in carts and trucks. But in no time, he took up the role of a middleman in the spice trade, which earned him commission and sharpened his business acumen.

Five years later, in 1953, Jain took another leap by renting a small space on Armenian Street to start spice trading. He bought jeera (cumin seeds) from Asia’s largest spice market in Gujarat’s Unjha and sold it to the same merchants with whom he used to work as a broker. His strong purchasing power and network led him to become a go-to proprietor for jeera in eastern India. Along the way, he earned the tag ‘Jeera King’ (JK) and realising the potential and opportunities in the spice market, launched JK Masale in 1957.

About a decade after launching the business, they started adding more whole spices other than jeera, including ajwain, sarso, methi, saunf and turmeric. His seven sons joined the business and in 1994, the second generation introduced whole spices in packets. They faced a bit of challenge in convincing their father to switch from 40 kg gunny bags to 1 kg packets.

“We’ve seen our father go that extra mile to keep the business up and running. In many instances, there was a lack of funds, but he didn’t give up,” recalls Bhagchand Jain, 78, chairman of JK Masale and eldest son of the late Dhannalal. The company also moved beyond trading and shifted to processing. It operates four units in Kolkata, Jaipur, Unjha and Bhagchand, and his brothers—spread across these cities—look after the factories.

The third generation introduced even smaller packets, started marketing the products intensively, launched JK Lifestore supermarkets in 2009, JK Kalaji (affordable spice segment) in 2018 and JKcart (an online shopping platform) during Covid. The company now sells everything from different kind of spices to pulses, flour, millets, snacks and more.

Growing the business

The current generation running the business describes their great grandfather as a “quick learner and visionary”, as within a decade of arriving in Kolkata, he created a space and name for himself in the unorganised spice market.

Today, even as the second generation mostly oversees the business, the main operations are handled by the third and fourth generations, with the majority of them working from Kolkata, while two families operate from Ahmedabad and Jaipur. The Kolkata-based spice maker has become the market leader in West Bengal and the Northeast, capturing 17 percent of the organised market and 38 percent of the whole spice segment. It has also managed to establish a reasonable presence in Rajasthan, Hyderabad and Karnataka, though its overall share across India in the organised sector still remains low, at 1.2 percent.

Initially the focus was on establishing the brand and reaching the maximum number of households in West Bengal, which the company seems to have succeeded at. A regular consumer says: “What Maruti used to be for cars earlier, JK is for spices in the city.”

Of late, the focus has also been on growth. The company’s revenue has almost doubled in six years, from ₹350 crore in 2018 to ₹693 crore in 2024. “We have been growing at around 20 percent over the last three years,” says Vijay Jain, chief marketing director and third generation member in the business.

Each generation has encountered different challenges, but they have also brought in fresh ideas and innovation. While the second generation introduced 1 kg packets of spices, the third introduced smaller packs and also did marketing, roping in regional brand ambassadors. The fourth generation, who joined a couple of years ago, has introduced a snacking line with snacks like Chaskaah Aloo Bhujia, Chaskaah Tok Jhaal Mishti and Chaskaah Hing Jeera Chana. JK Masale has 581 SKUs and their best-selling products are jeera, turmeric, poppy seeds, sabudana, poha and hing.

“Modern trade is growing for us, and online business is also picking up. The retail shop market struggled due to Covid, but it’s getting better now. Quick commerce is also a challenge,” says Vijay. The company has its own four mini supermarkets in Kolkata, where it sells products from all the brands, even competitors, but the majority of the shelves are filled with a variety of JK products.

There have been other recent challenges with exports being badly impacted after Hong Kong suspended sales of three spice blends by Everest and MDH, followed by investigations by other countries, including Singapore, the US and Australia.

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As per the spice board, the country exported spice products worth $4 billion in 2022-23. India is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of spices, having a 12 percent global share in FY24. Chilli tops the list of major spices exported, followed by cumin and turmeric. China is the biggest importer of Indian spices, followed by the US and Bangladesh. Though JK Masale also exports to some of these countries, it didn’t receive any notification from them. However, its overall revenue from exports to countries like Thailand, the UAE, Hong Kong and South Korea is only 1.5 percent.

“It’s very low, and the company is working on addressing this. The importers expect us to compromise on quality. We’re never going to do that. We’ve been very sure about the consistency of the quality of the products we sell. That makes us stand out from the others in the market,” says Vijay.

Room for Growth

The Indian spice market is valued at around $8 billion and is expected to grow by 10 percent in five years. With spice mixes selling at a premium, there is a big opportunity for the players to cater to the rising demand for blended spices, says Nikhil Sethi, partner and national head, consumer goods, KPMG in India.

“JK Masale has cemented its position as the go-to brand for any Bengali spice, from poppy seeds to panch phoren. Now quick commerce has taken them from Bengal to Bharat,” adds Abhik Choudhury, founder of brand consultancy firm Salt and Paper. “Because of the big grocery app wave, suddenly good regional spices with strategic pricing could compete with the big companies on an equal footing. Now JK is in the kitchen cabinets of not only Kolkata but also Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. It’s no longer just an eastern Indian spice brand,” he says.

However, challenges remain. “The key challenge faced by the Indian spice market is price volatility due to irregular weather patterns and fluctuating raw material prices. With regional spice companies continuing to dominate the market, there is a lot of competition. And the market is facing severe scrutiny from regulatory agencies on the health implications,” adds Sethi.

JK Masale’s online reviews assure grade-A quality, but they are in a highly competitive category, from MDH and Everest on one side to Catch and Tata Sampann on the other. They need to rework their packaging to create a more aspirational vibe for younger and far more brand-conscious homemakers, adds Choudhury. “And almost none of the big players in this category takes social media seriously—TV and multiplexes are where they place big bets... that is precisely why if JK can create an everlasting persona there, their rise to being a psychological market leader might be twice as fast. Especially if they also want to keep penetrating the export market.”

JK Masale is eyeing doubling its revenue by next year. It is seeking help from business coaches and consultants to streamline certain processes. “We never hired professionals because all of us have been successfully looking after the company. But with changing times, we understand the need for having external opinion and guidance,” says Vijay.