chennai delhi punjab jharkhand and himachal pradesh are no longer remote places for homegrown companies in the south as nationwide logistics becomes a strategic concern across the business spectrum more and more southernbased businesses are looking to diversify geographically by setting their sights up north sometimes the trigger is the tax benefits on offer in states like uttaranchal or its proximity to a key northern market or simply the search for a wider geographical spread over the last few years companies that have spread their wings have ranged from automobile majors and headhunting consultants to players in food and financial services some of them like aachi group of companies hatsun and sundaram bnp paribas home finance have sensed changes in consumer behaviour and are trying to capitalise on it others are aiming to break into markets by creating production centres in new territories language is still a problem concedes a padmasingh isaac founder and chairman of the aachi group of companies but the pie is big enough to make the foray worthwhile the masala major which entered delhi almost two years ago is now present across delhi bihar west bengal and jharkhand isaac is quick to dismiss the northsouth food divide by saying that taste buds are more evolved now our spices and blended masalas have a strong chettinad flavour and buyers are more cosmopolitan than ever before as they have been exposed to a variety of cuisines he says aachis range competes with local brand mdh among others but isaac argues there is room for everyone the masala and spices market is still largely unorganized he says last year the firm clocked revenues of rs 495 crore with north india accounting for 10 of the pie ditto for hatsun the makers of arun ice creams a household name in tamil nadu the dairy major recently opened three ibaco parlours in new delhi while founder rg chandramogan says its still early days for ibaco the company has steadily moved up north in recent years and is focusing on selling ghee and dairy whiteners in the region our selling point and differentiator has been that our ghee is made from cows milk says chandramogan much of the milk produced and processed in north india is buffalo milk even financial services firms arent far behind sundaram bnp paribas home finance which predominantly focuses on the south for home loans is now looking northwards we have reached bhopal says srinivas acharya managing director sundaram bnp paribas home finance the company has a total of 84 offices with five of them outside the four southern states even smaller service firms have set up offices in the delhincr region catch consulting a chennaibased head hunting firm that specializes in senior level placements is looking to put in place a fivemember team in gurgaon by january 2013 while technology has shrunk distances in our industry a physical presence goes a long way in building relationships with clients says v shri ganesh chief executive officer catch consulting