keralabased malabar gold diamonds is celebrating its 30th anniversary in an interview with et m p ahammed chairman of malabar group recounts how it all began from a tiny shop in kozhikode its evolution and growth in india and beyond transformation of the jewellery trade their global forays and future plans1 how has the gold jewellery trade transformed in india in the last 30 years that helped you to become a rs 43500 crore company from a single storegold is an intrinsic part of the sociocultural fabric of the country the eternal appeal and growing demand of the yellow metal always drive gold jewellery trade in india the gold jewellery trade in india has undergone significant transformation in the last three decades driven by greater consumer awareness on quality and purity growth of organised jewellery retail segment enhanced attention to craftsmanship and increasing focus on quality and price transparency and standardisation the growth of ecommerce and digital media have played an enabling role by further expanding the customer base and creating new market opportunities advt jewellery demand is now driven by diverse conventional and contemporary sensibilities the demand is volumedriven as much as valuefocussed customers are increasingly becoming discerning during our journey of the last three decades our focus has always been on catering to the evolving consumer demand setting new design trends and offering customers value for money and worldclass shopping experience the launch of 12 jewellery brands and setting up of 13 cluster manufacturing units in india and gcc reflect our growth outlook both in india and beyond our unwavering focus on quality standardisation price transparency targeted and innovative marketing strategy and customer service is the cornerstone of our celebrated journey from one showroom in kozhikode kerala to a rs 43500 crore enterprise with a presence across india the middle east and beyond2 you had been in the spice trade but subsequently you shifted to jewellery retail what prompted you to take up jewellery retail tradewhile running my spice trading business i realised the importance of brand value and the power it commands in the market a spice retailer who owed a hefty payment to me promised to repay the dues by selling his brand the episode made me realise the fact that building a successful brand always elevates the business associated with iti carried out an extensive market research on other sectors and found out that jewellery retail trade despite being unorganised in nature presented excellent opportunity to build a reputed brand based on trust and transparency finally in 1993 we set up malabar gold and diamonds in a small 400 sq ft shop in kozhikode by introducing bishallmarked jewellery for the first time in kerala in 2001 we made malabar gold diamonds a trusted progressive and customerfocussed jewellery brand in india we never looked back after that advt 3 you are world no 6 in terms of total revenue and aspire to be the number one by 2030 whats your business expansion growth plan