Rajmohan Pillai

Rajmohan Pillai
Born	(1964-05-12) 12 May 1964 (age 60) Kerala, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Businessman
Relatives	Rajan Pillai (brother)

J. Rajmohan Pillai (born 12 May 1964)[1] is an Indian businessman, and is currently the chairman of Beta Group.[2]

Early life

Rajmohan Pillai was born in Kerala, India,[1] and educated in the state capital Trivandrum.[3] He gained management experience with his family's business in 1981.[1]

Beta Group

Beta Group is a diversified transnational business group with a US$2 billion turnover.[4] The group’s vertical subsidiaries include packaged processed foods manufacturing, marketing, and distribution. The Group also claims interests in entertainment, logistics, and business consulting.[5]

The group began in the early 1900s as Beta Industries, an exporter of cashew nuts. The company is based in the Netherlands.[2] It is one of the world's largest cashew nut companies.[6]

Rajmohan Pillai formed the Beta Group as a conglomerate of nine companies in memory of his eldest brother, Kerala businessman Rajan Pillai, former chairman of Britannia Industries, whose death in 1995 closed what The Economic Times referred to as one of India's most dramatic corporate sagas.[2]

Today, while still essentially a cashew products company, the Beta Group has diversified into fruit drinks, almonds, dates, and pistachios.[7] The group owns the dry fruit and nut brands, Nut King and Ole.[8]

Pillai's management

Pillai's previously declared intentions for the group have included:

• waging a "cashew-nut war", matching the price of potato chips marketed by multinational companies in India (2000)[9]
• entering the pharmaceutical and hospitality sectors (2006)[7]
• purchasing the Barista Coffee chain (2006)[6] (it was purchased instead by Lavazza)[10]
• diversification including a US$200 million desalination plant in Tamil Nadu (2006)[11]
• opening an aviation academy in Malaysia (2007)[12]
• resurrecting the Britannia Amritraj Tennis (BAT) Academy, a former Chennai center of excellence, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, as Beta Ace Technique (BAT) Tennis Academy[13]
• investing $100 million in Guinea-Bissau's cashew industry (2023)[14]

Social foundations

He was instrumental in establishing the KJP Research Foundation, named in honor of his late father, K. Janardhanan Pillai. The Foundation conducts research and development in the fields of cashew and other horticultural crops. He also established the Rajan Pillai Foundation in memory of his brother Rajan Pillai, to promote excellence in arts, sports, social sciences, and medicine, serving the cause of humanity. The Rajan Pillai Foundation institutes and presents awards to accomplished individuals in international relations, social welfare services, and industry development.[15]

Achievements and Recognitions

• Elected as President of Sport Climbing Federation of India (SCFI)[16]. Rajmohan underscored his dedication to promoting sport climbing, with a special focus on its Olympic potential.
• Received best cashew exporter award (2023) at the Kerala-America partnership summit 2023 [17]. He received the award from P Rajeeve, the State Industries Minister at the Kerala-America partnership summit 2023 held in Kochi.
• His firm Beta Group signs MoU with Government of Guinea-Bissau over a period of five years to procure, process, and export cashew, mainly to US and China [18]

Thesis and Publications

In 2006, he was awarded a doctorate in business management by the New Age International University of Seborga, Italy,[7] (a diploma mill unlicensed by any Italian or European authority which is an offshoot of the Institute of Education, Research & Development, Kolkata) for a thesis that chronicled the history of the global cashew industry.

His other published works are:

• A Wasted Death – a book on the rise and fall of Rajan Pillai, co-authored with K. Govindan Kutty[19] (Penguin Books, 2001, ISBN 978-0-14-100601-7; subsequently translated and published in five Indian languages^[citation needed]).
• K. Janardhanan Pillaiyude Jeevitham Daivathinte Nadakom – a Malayalam book about the life of Pillai's father. Co-authored with V. S. Nair (Current Books, 2002).
• The World Cashew Industry – a book detailing all aspects of the production, processing, and trading of cashews. Co-authored with Mrs. P. Santha, a relative and former principal scientist with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (Rajan Pillai Foundation, Kollam, 2008).[20] The book incorporates several chapters of Pillai's thesis.[21]
• Siddharthan – a novel on the life of Rajan Pillai narrating his material life and spiritual transformation.[22][23]

Awards

He was awarded the Vayalar Ramavarma Samskarika Vedi award for the year 2019 for his book Siddharthan.[22]

He received the Export Excellence award for being the best Indian exporter to the USA in the cashew sector at the Kerala-America partnership summit 2023 in Kochi.[24]

References

1. "Dr.J.Rajmohan Piilai". autobiographical blog post. 16 September 2006. Archived from the original on 27 November 2012.
2. "Pillai's brother eyes global JV for biscuits pie". The Economic Times. 12 February 2007. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
3. "Cashew King". Business Today. 9 October 2005. Archived from the original on 9 October 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
4. Hamid, Hamisah (10 March 2009). "Beta Brands looks forward to cracking RM1b mark". New Straits Times. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
5. "About us: Beta Groups Background". Archived from the original on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2009., betaempire.com
6. "Barista to be sold again, for Rs 150-200 cr". The Times of India. 10 October 2006. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
7. "Doctorate for Beta Group chief". Business Line. The Hindu. 3 April 2006. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
8. "Beta Empire group launches 'Date King'". Business Line. 12 November 2002. Archived from the original on 18 February 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
9. "Nut King J R Pillai to take on the might of MNC's". The Rediff Business Special. 12 June 2000. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
10. Italy's Lavazza to buy Barista, Rediff India Abroad, 9 March 2007. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
11. "Netherlands co to invest Rs 250 cr in Nut King". The Economic Times of India. 11 October 2006. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
12. "Netherlands-based Indian group to open aviation academy in Malaysia". Business Times. 14 May 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
13. "BAT Academy to be Resurrected". The New Indian Express. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
14. "Beta Group's Investment in Guinea-Bissau's Cashew Industry". The Hindu Business Line. 16 November 2022.
15. "Kerala can show the way in plurality, says Tharoor". The Hindu. 22 December 2006. Archived from the original on 4 January 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
16. https://www.business-standard.com/content/press-releases-ani/dr-rajmohan-pillai-elected-as-new-president-of-sport-climbing-federation-of-india-124062400717_1.html
17. "Rajmohan Pillai gets best cashew exporter award". 11 April 2023.
18. "Beta Group to invest $100 million in Guinea-Bissau in cashew biz". 16 November 2022.
19. "CM releases book on Rajan Pillai". The Hindu. 21 August 2001. Retrieved 19 August 2017.^[dead link‍]
20. "Comprehensive book on cashew industry released". Hindustan Times. 21 January 2008. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
21. Nair, N.J. (22 January 2008). "The tale of cashew trade over the years". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 21 September 2008. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
22. "ജെ.രാജ്മോഹന്‍ പിള്ളയ്ക്ക് സാഹിത്യ പുരസ്‌കാരം" [Literary award to J. Rajmohan Pillai]. Mathrubhumi (in Malayalam). Archived from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
23. "Success Story of Dr J Rajmohan Pillai". Brilliant Read. 21 September 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
24. "Rajmohan Pillai wins best cashew exporter award". Metro Vaartha. 13 April 2023.

External links

• Beta Empire