LEGACY BUILDING

Kuldipsingh has provided construction materials to Suriname’s public and industrial markets for more than 40 years. Marketing Manager Jerry Sadiek speaks to Sustainable Business Magazine about how it has gone from strength to strength, and brought the rest of the country with it.

Kuldipsingh is a third-generation family business. The grandfather of current shareholder, Switrang Kuldipsingh, started it in 1979 as a building materials store, selling to both commercial businesses and private individuals. More than 40 years on, the company has expanded massively, multiplying into ten separate divisions that serve different markets.

These include: Handelmaatschappij Kuldipsingh N.V., which represents the company’s original public-facing store business but today consists of outlets across Suriname; Kuldipsingh Readymix N.V., which produces and delivers ready to use concrete mortor for building projects; and Kuldipsingh Port Facility, which facilitates ships in the oil, gas, mining, and wood industries.

Spotting Opportunities

Jerry Sadiek, Kuldipsingh’s Marketing Manager, shared with Sustainable Business Magazine how this expansion outward from a building materials store began:

“When Switrang joined the company in 1995, he began investing in new markets. He brought a roofing machinist on board, for example, so that the company could buy in the raw materials and then produce the panels here in Suriname. The first of the additional companies was formed to serve this market in 1997. Today, Kuldipsingh Metals N.V. offers not only roofing panels but also wall and floor panels, and metal profiles.”

In 1979, when it first started, Kuldipsingh had 30 employees. Today, across all ten of its divisions, the company employs 1500 people.

Its divisions have often developed out of spotting a gap in Suriname’s market, such as the materials transport company. Kuldipsingh Equipment N.V. began as a way for the company to better organize and support its own logistical requirements. However, it quickly realized that there was need for a dedicated logistics company in Suriname capable of providing the reliability and efficiency that Kuldipsingh is known for. As a result, it spun off Kuldipsingh Equipment N.V. and today it is a thriving business serving customers across the country.

Meanwhile, in 2015, the company built its own port. This facility is operated under the name Kuldipsingh Port Facility N.V., and it is responsible for controlling all marine services. This includes loading and unloading, storage, 24/7 stevedoring, and managing inland deliveries to customers. The port facility grew out of a need for the company to better control its own increasing imports for other sectors of its business.

Finally, and in the clearest example of how it has responded to its expanding business, the company has built further Handelmaatschappij Kuldipsingh stores.

Moreover, these are now (large) megastores. Along with these stores, the rest of the Kuldipsingh divisions flourished rapidly as these also delivered the required materials and, therefore, enabled Kuldipsingh to provide its own supply chain.

Staff Growth

“Kuldipsingh is always looking for opportunities, new businesses, and new chances to support both our people and the wider community,” Mr. Sadiek says.

One of the key ways that Kuldipsingh does this is by training its staff, as Mr. Sadiek explains:

“We train our employees so that they grow with us. We are telling them to ‘feel the growth’ with us. We want all our employees to grow alongside the company, because they are the company. They are part of the Kuldipsingh family.”

Given Kuldipsingh’s emphasis on family, it’s no surprise that the company has a strong desire to support future generations. As a result, the company has made supporting schools a key pillar in its corporate social responsibility plans.

In April 2023, for example, the company helped O.S. Tout Lui Faut, a long out of use school that came back into use thanks to items and work from Kuldipsingh. These included renovating classrooms, building new washroom facilities, and building a new office for the school’s principal. Earlier, in March of the same year, Kuldipsingh Readymix N.V. sent a concrete mixing truck to Stg. Kangoeroe Community School for the children to investigate and learn about how houses are built with this. Also, in 2021, the company was responsible for refurbishing the toilet blocks of two schools.

“We are very connected with the youth because that is the future of the country,” says Mr. Sadiek. “From an early age on, children are already familiar with Kuldipsingh . All of our trucks have a name with a cartoon on it, and the when the children look at them, you can hear them say, ‘Daddy, this is one of Kuldipsingh’s!’ The youth is very important to us, so if we can do something to give back to them then we will happily do that. Beyond our support for schools, we also have a social support program. During our 40th anniversary celebrations in 2019, we were honored to hand out donations to orphanages, such as Stichting Mijnzorg, which is a foundation that looks after children without parents.”

Helping The Youth

Of course, Kuldipsingh can’t provide social support if it doesn’t also have its own house in order. The company wants to ensure that its customer always receive the best products and services, and to do this, it carefully selects its local and foreign suppliers.

“Our main vision is that we are going for quality,” explains Mr. Sadiek. “Our products are of premium quality. Our service to customers is a quality service. We focus on providing efficient deliveries alongside the best products that we can source. Of course, this means that we are not the cheapest name in Suriname, but everyone knows they can rely on the Kuldipsingh name to get exactly what they want and need.

“When a customer buys products from us, or when they do business with us, we want to create a long-term sustainable relationship with them. That’s a priority. To do this, we operate two different business models: business-to-business, and business-to-customer. This enables us to work differently with different people, while offering everyone the same great quality. Keeping all of our clients in close contact with local partners underlines our business.”

Always Seeking New Opportunities

Kuldipsingh’s past has been defined by going from strength to strength, and that doesn’t look like it’ll stop any time soon. Mr. Sadiek explains that the company has a number of expansions on the cards:

“Our port facility has a very important role within Kuldipsingh. Some of the goods that we import comes in there, meaning we can reduce costs further. We expect business there to increase over the coming years due to the recent discovery of oil off the coast of neighboring Guyana. Kuldipsingh Port Facility N.V. has signed a long-term contract with Halliburton for the lease of its Liquid Mud Plant. The company also has contracts with Total Energies. It recently commissioned an expansion to the port’s jetty. This will nearly double its length and enable us to accommodate both more ships and bigger vessels.

“We are also planning for some new manufacturing facilities on our property that is approximately 200,000 square metres and located in the south of Suriname. The construction of some of these facilities have already been started; this will enable existing Kuldipsingh divisions to expand its manufacturing facilities and a total new division will also be added to The Kuldips- ingh Group. In addition to that, another Handelmaatschappij Kuldipsingh N.V. megastore was opened in July 2023. This is our fifth shop, and it is located in the district Commewijne, east of Suriname.

Shareholder, Switrang Kuldipsingh, redefined the company by showing how important expanding the business is. Today, this expansion is helping not only Kuldipsingh, but bringing its customers and even the entire country along with it.

“Kuldipsingh is always moving forward.” says Mr. Sadiek. “We are always open to new things and for new opportunities in existing branches, as long as it fits our business values. We are always looking for new brands, for new projects, and try to elevate people within and even outside the organization. To our customers, we say: if you do business with us, you will grow.”