OUR LEGACY
1928
It was in the year 1928 when the country was in the midst of great political upheaval, Mr Kasturiranga Setty Meda conceived the idea of starting a flour mill. With hardly any capital, but with courage and conviction in his idea, he started a small Roller Flour Mill in the Old Tharugupet market area in Bangalore. For over seven years this small mill was run with sheer hard work and sound business principles and thereby he was able to build this small enterprise into a flourishing brand known for its superior product quality.
1952
The entrepreneur Mr Kasturiranga Setty Meda was not satisfied with the running of this small mill. He envisaged running a bigger and modern mill and hence obtained a larger flour mill (the Elgin Flour Mills) for lease.
Those were the days when anything modern was shunned by people; a time when people preferred flour made by saddle stones, and when the alien government looked down upon Indian enterprise. It was a momentous decision that reflects the serenity and foresight of the founder. with the advent of freedom and the national government encouraging Indian enterprise, the founder drew blueprints of a modern flour mill. During this time, a similar mill was run at Hyderabad by the same management.
1955
After careful study of the equipment manufactured by various firms all over the world, M/s. Buhler Bros. (Switzerland) equipment was found most suited to manufacture flour untouched by hand under the pneumatic system.
On the 13th March 1955, this plant was inaugurated by the then Industries Minister of the Government of Mysore,
Mr H. Siddaveerappa.
1956-1981
During this time, Krishna Flour Mills became one of the largest and most trusted manufacturers of wheat flours in South India, thus generating immense value for the management, employees and most importantly the consumers. Mr Meda Kasturiranga Setty had always believed in giving back to society in greater measure than what he received. Hence, he generously donated large sums of money toward establishing the R.V. Group of Institutions, which today educates over 25,000 students from Primary school to Engineering and Post-graduate education. Thanks to Mr Kasturiranga Setty’s philanthropy and far sighted vision, R.V.College of Engineering ranks as the leading engineering college in Karnataka and among the top private engineering college’s in India.
The founder also contributed generously to the Indian Institute of Sciences to ensure newly independent India could make strides in scientific and industrial research.
1982
After successfully running the first Buhler plant in South Asia
for over 25 years, the management felt the need to upgrade the old Buhler plant and hence installed the latest Swiss-made,
PLC controlled Buhler plant in 1981 with a capacity of
125 MT per day.
1985-1994
Due to various changes in the wheat policies of the government, internal labour union and management issues, Krishna Flour Mills went through very trying times and production had declined to 10% of capacity.
1994
Mr M.K.Dattaraj took over ownership of
Krishna Flour Mills from other family members and
began the hard, but rewarding journey of reviving
and re-establishing Krishna Flour Mills as a
leading flour mill in Karnataka.
2002
Mr Dattaraj realized that fast-changing consumer lifestyles
will mean that consumers will want convenient and healthy forms of flours.
At this time, ITC Ltd was just launching its Aashirwaad brand of Atta. Hence, Mr Dattaraj associated with ITC Ltd through Shakthi Kiran Foods (a group company), which became the first company in South India to start manufacturing Aashirwaad Atta with an additional capacity if 125 MT/day, thus taking the total amount of wheat processed within the same campus
up to 250 MT/day.
present
Krishna Flour Mills continues to carry forward the vision of its founder of adhering to fair business practices, manufacturing the highest quality wheat products and delighting customers. The company sells a wide range of products to a wide range of customers from large corporates such as Britannia, ITC, Unibic, Cargill etc to over several thousand small retailers/bakeries across South India through a large and committed dealer network.