A Brief History Of Success

BY SELLING JOCKEY PRODUCTS IN INDIA, THE GENOMALS ALTERED THE WAY INDIANS PERCEIVED INNERWEAR AND CHANGED THEIR OWN FORTUNES IN THE PROCESS

- Sayan Chakraborty

In the summer of 1993, it was business as usual for 40-year-old Sunder Genomal in Manila— where he ran his family business of manufacturing and distributing Jockey products in the Philippines—when Rick Hosley, then president of the USbased innerwear brand, made him an offer. Hosley wanted Genomal to become the brand’s exclusive licensee for manufacturing and distribution in India.

Genomal had not seen this coming despite having accompanied Hosley to India a few months earlier to help him scout for a partner to operate in the country. Hosley’s reason to fall back on Genomal isn’t far to seek. The company was making a second attempt at entering India. Constrained by regulatory requirements under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (Fera), which required multinational companies (MNCs) to dilute their ownership in Indian ventures to 40 percent, Jockey had to end its decade old manufacturing and distribution partnership with Associated Apparels in 1973. Now, in 1993 (post-liberalisation, Fera rules were relaxed to allow MNCs at least a 51 percent stake in their Indian ventures, and were eventually repealed in 1998), Jockey was looking to enter the market again, and Genomal—whose family had a similar relationship with the brand in the Philippines since 1959—could be relied upon to be the trusted lieutenant.

“Jockey was approached by some well-known large companies for the licence in India. They surprised us by asking if our family would be interested in taking the licence since they did not sense the right quality and marketing culture in any of the companies that showed an interest in the brand,” recalls Genomal, managing director of Page Industries, the company he founded in 1994 to manufacture and distribute Jockey products in India.