Entrepreneurship culture gaining popularity

28-year-old woman sets up first fruit and vegetable retail brand

KARACHI: The culture of entrepreneurship instead of seeking jobs is increasingly becoming popular among the educated youth, particularly girls.

Shafaq Sewani is one such example who has managed to establish a retail brand in a bid to change the business of fruits and vegetables.

With a Masters in Economics and Finance from Turkey, the 28-year-old was affiliated with one of the top banks in Pakistan. However, she bade farewell to her job for pursuing her passion - her own business.

She examined the business of fruit and vegetable sale and prepared a strategy to modernise this business. Sewani chose to open a modern retail outlet, giving priority to addressing health issues and complaints of poor quality of edible items. She is assisted by her husband, who has experience in the area of shipping and logistics.



Choosing a posh area in DHA’s commercial market, she introduced her brand as the Fresh Basket. She said it was the first outlet that would sell edible items keeping in mind health needs of the consumers, which was also moulded as per modern principles of supply chain.

Talking about the response, she said her initiative was received well and it was also a unique experience for the buyers.

She said fruits and vegetables were perishable items and needed to be consumed soon, but the percentage of loss could be greatly reduced by establishing a supply chain mechanism. The losses stand at around 30% in traditional sale.

The positive response can be attributed to the wider range of fruits and vegetables available at the store, of which some are imported. About 25 to 30 vegetables kept at a low temperature are also being sold, which include salad and other high-nutrition items. Dry fruits are available along with fruits from northern areas.

After her success in Karachi, Sewani has decided to expand her business to Lahore and Islamabad. The foundation for the expansion has already been laid with the construction of a warehouse in the suburbs of Karachi where fruits and vegetables up to 1,500kg can be stored.

Sewani has concentrated all her attention on increasing the value of business as it will bring down the operating cost and benefit the consumers in the form of value-added services.

The permanent customers of Sewani are being provided with home delivery services. Six restaurants and cafes in DHA are now permanent customers of Sewani who provides fruits and vegetables on a daily basis.

So far, an investment of more than Rs4 million has been made and more than Rs50,000 worth of sale is taking place on a daily basis, which is continuously increasing.



Shafaq’s husband informed The Express Tribune that he availed the necessary opportunity by taking over administration of a super store in the fruit and vegetable department after which he proceeded to increase his share and obtained the administration contract for the entire section, which gave her wife the idea to introduce a new brand.

Customers say the sale of fruits and vegetables by a girl is a unique experience, but the Pakistani society is fast changing. The environment of the shop is exemplary where customers choose their desired items and weigh them.

A permanent customer, Rashida Hashmi, said, “When we visit foreign countries and see such shops, we feel the desire to have such facilities in our country too.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th, 2019.

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