GSC Group: Seychelles’ integrated solution provider |10 February 2023
Venu Gopal (Photo: Emma Ah-Kong)
Global Supply Company Group (GSC Group) recently went through a rebranding, and on January 1, launched its spanking new and fresh logo with the aim of altering and structuring its identity and presence in the local market.
GSC Group, part of Dubai-based Company Safco International, started from small, humble beginnings in Seychelles in 2006 as a hotel and resort supplier for food and non-food products. At the time, the company comprised only three staff members.
Over the 16 successful years for which it has been operating, the GSC Group has grown and expanded considerably to become what it is today ‒ an integrated solution-provider for the food, beverage and hospitality sector,a one-stop shop for all business needs in Seychelles.
Diversifying to meet its own needs and the demands of the market, the GSC Group now boasts a number of businesses under its portfolio ‒ GSC Hospitality, GSC Trading, GSC Logistics, GSC Retail and GSC Construction. The company also has over 200 staff on its payroll, a significant proportion of whom are Seychellois.
Seychelles NATION had a chat with Group general manager Venu Gopal, about the Group’s accomplishments over the years and the long-term strategy of sustainable growth for the entire Group.
Seychelles NATION: GSC Group has been a key player within the local market for a number of years thus far. What have been its major accomplishments?
Venu Gopal: Sixteen years back, we started here in Seychelles as a local trading company. We used to import and distribute exclusively to retail shops, as in those days there were foreign exchange problems and people were being invited to invest in the country.
After a year, we were asked to serve the hotel industry to ensure that tourists can access the right products at the right price, which is when we opened the Global Supply Centre (GSC), specifically, Horeca Supplies, which specialises in hotel and resort supplies.
Over the years, we decided to also supply to the local market with the same quality of food products, so we started supplying to shopkeepers, restaurants, hotels and resorts. But, over a period of time we found that there were some temperature-chain control problems in the retail shops, leading us to launch our Chop Shop where the meat is displayed properly and properly presented, in addition to being properly refrigerated.
In this journey, we have also evolved to become an integrated solution provider. We started with Maharajas as the first restaurant, and have now reached six units ‒ Tamassa, Kapatya, Grub Street, Asian Wok, and Ochan restaurants.
With demand to serve ships that were visiting the country, we also moved into shipchandling. In fact, hotel supplies are a major part of shipchandling.
Of course, every import needs logistic support. We do almost 50 containers a month so we needed a logistics partner. Hence, we decided to open a logistics company where we do our own servicing, rather than depending on an external source.
Our construction company, GSC Landmark Estates Limited, does a lot of projects, mainly for our internal companies. However, we also cater to outside projects as well.
The journey started from one stretch and we value-added to the supply chain, wherein we can make our price competitive.
The GSC Retail arm comprises the Gastronomy Supermarket located in the Financial Services Authority Zone (ex-SIBA) on Bois de Rose Avenue as well as the two Chop Shops, one located in Pointe Larue, and the second in Anse Royale.
The Group’s newest addition is the Restofair, a recently opened hotel shop located at Providence.
Seychelles NATION: Why rebrand at this point?
Venu Gopal: In spite of so much expansion, very few people know what the GSC Group is all about. Everyone knows GSC as a retailer and a wholesaler, but our core business is not retail and wholesale. We operate in 77 countries through Safco International, but we are purely hotel and resort suppliers in all of those countries. Even though we are not purely a wholesaler or retailer, Seychelles knows us as such.
We thought it is time that everyone understands that GSC’s core business is hotel and resort supplies. In our turnover, 76 percent is in hotel and resorts and only 24 percent is down to wholesale and retail.
It is important that people understand what GSC Group is about, what verticals it has and what other units come under these verticals, so they understand our diversification.
Seychelles NATION: Seychelles is a fairly small market. How has business been in Seychelles thus far?
Venu Gopal: Seychelles is the smallest of all our operations. Every market has its own charms and Seychelles has a very unique charm in that even though it is small, the diversification is huge, meaning that every person here looks for alternate options; every month they want something new, and consumers change to a new brand.
In other countries around the world, our portfolio is around 6,000 to 8,000 products as a distribution portfolio. In Seychelles, we have a 3,000 product portfolio and what that means is smallest country, highest portfolio. People need changes here. That’s good. That way, Seychelles is a nice place in terms of doing business, because we need to constantly be on our toes. In other parts of the world, we have 20 brands and we try to develop those 20 brands. In Seychelles, everyday is a surprise.
Seychelles NATION: What challenges does the Seychelles market present for GSC? Is competition a major challenge?
Venu Gopal: When we started we were a team of three and now we are a team of 250 staff working for the group. The challenge has been getting the right people with the right attitude, but it is improving a lot. Over 100 employees are Seychellois.
Additionally, in every market there is perfect and imperfect competition. Here, in Seychelles, we are faced with mainly imperfect competition, so everyone can import and sell anything, but the quality is what will change. The quality of GSC’s products by the time they reach the shelves will be completely different to those of another importer who is distributing its products on a dry pick-up with no refrigeration.
Seychelles NATION: Where is the GSC heading from here on out?
Venu Gopal: We are currently working on a 15-room self-catering tourism establishment at Beau Vallon. This is of course an add-on to our hospitality division.
We will keep adding vertically. We do not necessarily want to change the groups, but want to add vertically, so people understand our different divisions.
When GSC started, our slogan was ‘Global products at your doorstep’. This is not confined to food, but also to non-food, spare parts, anything. With the head office based in Dubai, and offices around the world and distribution hubs on each continent, we can be of service for any type of needs, especially considering that in Seychelles, people cannot afford to import in high volumes.
Recently, we have been placing more emphasis on corporate social responsibility (CSR). We have been meeting with the department of agriculture, the farmers’ associations to see how we can help them. We have been focusing on this for the last two years, but we are doing it more aggressively now, taking responsibility at corporate level to assist the community, in terms of their business and support, and giving back to the society.
Interview conducted by Laura Pillay
