From a small flower shop to a flourishing global enterprise based in Dubai: The story of three brothers from India
Black Tulip, which was established in 1990 in Dubai, is today a Rs 1,400-crore enterprise, which supplies flowers across the world.
A small flower shop set up in 1990 in Dubai by three brothers from a small village in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur is today a flourishing Rs 1,400-crore enterprise, supplying flowers to the whole world.
Black Tulip Group, has—over its three-decade journey—grown from strength to strength, quietly establishing its presence in the global market as a wholesale supplier of flowers.
The company, run by Mohammed Ehiya, his elder brother Basheer Ahmed, and younger brother Sadiq Basha, owns around 8,000 acres of farm lands across Kenya, Ethiopia, and Hosur (India), employing around 10,000 workers. It exports flowers such as roses, orchids, gypsophila and lilies to Dubai, Malaysia, Singapore, London, Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Moscow, Ukraine, Japan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UK.
Ehiya, Co-founder, , claims their company occupies the second position globally in flower production and export. “Efforts are on to capture the top spot in a couple of years,” he says.
Black Tulip exhibition
How it all began
The journey began in 1982, when Ehiya dropped out of school due to family circumstances, left India, and joined his brother Basheer in Dubai. Basheer was working as a sales manager in a small flower shop there.
Later, their entrepreneurial urge led the brothers to start their own flower shop in Dubai in 1990, with an initial investment of $20,000 (roughly Rs 1.5 lakh then). “This marked our entry into the flowers business. We are first-generation entrepreneurs,” says Ehiya proudly.
This was the time when luxury hotels were mushrooming in Dubai. So, there was a good demand from them for flowers, says Ehiya. Slowly, Black Tulip began supplying flowers to many countries.
Initially, Black Tulip imported roses and lilies from Malaysia. Then it began to source flowers from Jordan and Kenya in 1993. The flowers were preserved using cold storage techniques.
In the beginning, the company’s profits were low. Despite that, the brothers persisted with their trade. Over time, the company cut out the middlemen and began to source directly from farmers, thus boosting profits. Later, the company ventured into farming of flowers on its own.
Slowly, Ehiya and his brothers gained confidence and realised that their small venture had potential for big growth.
The bootstrapped company began to grow flowers on its own in 2003 on a small scale. It took up a 200-acre land on lease for flower farming in Kenya. In 2004, it bought a 300-acre land in Kenya, through a JV with an Indian group called East African Group, in a $6-million project. Black Tulip invested $3 million in this and obtained the rest as loan. By 2005-2006, the company had scaled up production.
Business climate and challenges
Ehiya says it’s easy to do business in Dubai, with simple rules to follow. “The government has created a friendly environment for entrepreneurs.”
However, when his friends heard that the brothers were doing business in Africa, they were scared. “But I didn’t fear anything,” says Ehiya.
The biggest challenge came when the European Union was formed and the euro gained prominence. This affected Black Tulip’s business due to inflation.
“We realised that it was not profitable to buy flowers from Europe anymore. We also realised that we could generate profits only from African countries,” explains Ehiya.
Black Tulip has faced other hurdles such as the fallout of a partnership and nature’s wrath in Kenya.
“It rained continuously for three years, affecting the production of flowers. We had to pay interest on a bank loan. We also had to pay salaries to 800 employees,” says Ehiya.
It was a challenging period of six months, which even made the brothers wonder if it had been a wise decision to get into farming. But they overcame the challenge and persisted with determination. And since then, there has been no looking back.
Today the company has offices in Dubai, Kenya, and Malaysia. Initially, the company packed the flowers and delivered them to freight forwarding agencies. Later on, it started its own freight forwarding firm and rented out cold room facilities in airports.
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Mohammed Ehiya
Cultivation
Black Tulip cultivates flower varieties that grow well in local conditions. The company also uses organic manure to aid the growth of flowers in its farms. The manure comes from the dung and urine of 2,500 cows that the company has in Kenya.
Black Tulip grows 7.5 lakh flower stalks/stems every day.
Apart from cultivation, the company also has special arrangements with breeders, with royalties, to ensure it gets exclusive access to some varieties of flowers.
Challenges in India
Ehiya says it’s hard to buy even a 100-acre land parcel in a single place in the country. “There are a lot of legal hassles involved,” he points out.
Water shortage and uninterrupted supply of good quality water all through the year are also challenges, according to him.
“But India is our land and we have a heartfelt bond with the country, although we have not been able to take our flower business in India to a big level,” he rues.
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Black Tulip
Road ahead
The story of Black Tulip is the tale of three men from a small town in India with big ideas to succeed at a global level.
Ehiya is a fearless and determined man who’s willing to take risks. “Fear shouldn’t come in the way of achievements. Sustained efforts are alone needed to succeed,” he says. He attributes the company’s success to team work and does not wish to call it a single person’s feat. The family’s next generation too have started participating in the business.
In future, Black Tulip wants to export vegetables grown in Thanjavur all over the world.
(Translated by Swetha Kannan)
Edited by Jarshad NK