long term call

Karuturi Global (KGL), incorporated in 1994, has business interests in floriculture, agriculture, food processing and IT. The company has emerged as the largest producer of cut roses in the world and is promoted by Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi.

The company operates four wholly owned subsidiaries -- Karuturi Floritech, Karuturi Foods, Karuturi Telecom and Karuturi Flower Express.

Headquartered in India, the company has international offices located in Ethiopia, Kenya, Dubai and Holland. It exports products to countries namely Holland, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Bahrain, Muscat, Dubai, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Brunei and North America,

Businesses

Floriculture- Under this, the company undertakes in-house plantation, cultivation and distribution of roses. KGL produces roses in various colours viz. red, pink, yellow, orange, white and bi-colour. It has an output of about 500 million stems per annum.

Agriculture- Under this, Karuturi Global, is engaged in production of cereals, crops and vegetables. The company was granted about 300,000 hectares of land by Ethiopian government.

Food Processing- The company’s food processing plant, located at Tumkur, has installed capacity of 6,000 tonnes per annum. This facility undertakes bulk processing and bottling of gherkins, raddish, beetroot, carrot, baby corn, jalapenos and green bell peppers. Exports are targeted mainly to Europe and the US.

IT Business- Under this, the  company offers internet services provider (ISP) and software services. It offers ISP services to large MNCs and medium-sized companies.

Milestones

• 1994- The company was incorporated under the name Karuturi Floritech, a 100% export-oriented-unit (EOU) for floriculture.
• 1996- The company set up its first production facility near Bangalore.
• 1999- It established its second rose production facility near Bangalore, totalling farm size to 10 hectares. The same year company launched rosebazaar.com- an internet auction portal.
• 2000- The company's name was changed to Karuturi Networks.
• 2001- KGL invested in a private satellite gateway and an IDC as part of the Rose Bazaar initiative.
• 2003- The company became known as the largest producer of cut roses with lowest cost of operations in India.
• 2004- KGL started operations in Ethiopia to produce and export the Hybrid Tee variety of roses through a wholly owned subsidiary, Ethiopian Meadows Plc.
• 2006- The company forayed in the business of processed foods (gherkins). It set up a gherkins bottling plant at Tumkur near Bangalore.
• 2007-It launched ‘Flower Xpress’ retail outlets in Bangalore. Today it has chain of 12 outlets. The same year it acquired Sher Agencies -- a Kenya-based company that is the world’s largest producer of cut roses.
• 2008- The company was rechristened as Karuturi Global. It acquired 11,700 hectares of land in Ethiopia to venture into agriculture

Future Plans

In future, Karuturi Global plans to expand its following operations:

• Expand its presence it new geographical markets, especially in North America.
• Enhance its distribution network of its agricultural operations.
• Operationalize 100,000 hectares of land in Ethiopia.
• Optimize utilization rates to improve per unit output over time expanding farm size.