‘’Our customers are our biggest critics. We listen to our customers; the insight is basis of our action. Our customers’ insight helps us to grow in the industry” is the Customer orientation of Dan Foods limited where the Marketing Department, School of Business and Entrepreneurship organized a factory visit on 5th March 2020. The event was organized by Independent Marketers’ Association (IMA). Dan Cake A/S established in 1931 by the company dictum is the Scandinavian market leader in the production of ready-to-eat cakes and Swiss rolls which has a wide portfolio of “private label” products that are internationally distributed in more than 30 countries including Germany, France, the UK, Norway, Sweden and Finland. It became a part of joint venture partnership with ‘Pandughar Limited’ under the name of ‘Dan Foods Limited Bangladesh’ in 2015. The factory is located at Khagan, Birulia, Savar, which is equipped with state-of-the-art technology as recommended by Dan Cake A/S with a highly educated, experienced and skilled operation team to ensure the total quality production.
Twenty-seven students along with two faculty members Dr. Shamsun Nahar Momotaz, Assistant Professor and Suman Prosad Saha, Senior Lecturer of Marketing department participated in the factory visit. The visit was coordinated by two IUB Alumni Minhaj Hossain, Head of Marketing, and Sartaj Rahman, Sales Support Officer, Dan Foods Limited. Initially there was a presentation where eminent personalities of the industry specifically Faiz Ahmed, Head of Plant Operations, Md. Al. Emran, Manager Quality Assurance, and Md. Iftekharul Haque, Executive HR & Admin graced the time with their presence and discussion who shed lights on the various policies, hygiene and production process of Dan Foods Limited. After the successful session, students and faculties had to fill up and sign a form on fitness of personal health for proceed to factory visit. Thereafter at around 11:30 am they were taken to the production plant to show the production process of cakes guided by the managers of the company who explained and showed them every phases of the production.
Before entering the main production plant, they had to maintain rigorous cleaning method like wearing sterile apron, one-time cap, musk, hand gloves, separate shoes; washing hands with liquid soap, and applying hand sanitizer & washing shoes automatically again before entering the main plant. The very first unit is the ‘Mixing unit’ where scaled ingredients are mixed automatically with secret syrup collected from Denmark and then passed to baking stage after getting checked by the ‘Standard Counter unit’. Baked cakes are then passed to the ‘Cooling tunnel’ with high filtered air at fixed temperature. After which cold cakes are sent to the most sensitive part of the factory, ‘Primary Packaging section’ which is 100% sterile area. To enter there, visitors again need to change the earlier apron to different colored sterile dress to avoid any contamination of germs. Here, cakes are packed after decoration like injecting other ingredients. After every 30 minutes the Quality Assurance team randomly checks cakes. Rejected cakes are used partially in making Pound cakes and the rests are destroyed carefully in other designated place every day. After passing this unit cakes are sent to ‘Secondary Packaging section’ to pack in different sizes and sent to the ‘Delivery point’ of their selected dealers through modern air-conditioned covered van. In this way students witnessed that, by maintaining world class hygiene & cleanliness by the well-groomed staff, the company produces beautiful, delicious and European quality products to ensure customer satisfaction in Bangladesh.
After the visit a very participative session was held among the team and students when the marketing department handed over a token of gift to them. Afterwards, students were taken to witness the natural beauty of ‘Golap Graam’, Sadullahpur, 6.3 Km away from the factory where Rose flower plants are commercially cultivated throughout the village. They observed medium length stems of rose trees and each stem is laden with blooms there making mind-blowing beauty and smell of roses. Vast gardens of other flowers like Jarberaa, Gladiolas, Rajanigandha, etc. are found there also. Farmers are found growing many types of roses like Miranda, Lincoln, Milan, and white roses. Upon discussion with farmers students came to know that, farming roses depends on nature and manual labor, so they need to spend long days in the fields. Students observed the farmers busy with plucking flowers one by one at a fast yet careful pace and making tie the roses in bunches. They will rush to the local wholesale markets at the evening where they unload the bundles to showcase the roses to the buyers from Shahbagh, Farmgate, Banani and many other places of Dhaka. This was the noteworthy experience for the students indeed where they were able to detach themselves from the regular hustle and bustle of the busy Dhaka city.
