R.Mavji & Co.

You can find us at L-30 in the APMC Masala Market over in Vashi. Being in the wholesale market means our day starts when most people are still sleeping. The market is a loud place with people shouting and loaders pushing carts everywhere. We have been in this same spot for a long time. The shop is filled with heavy sacks of spices that come in from all over. The smell is very strong, a mix of everything from turmeric to black pepper, and it gets into your clothes. We do not have a fancy office with air conditioning. We have our stools and a thick ledger where we write down the daily sales. People come in to check the samples, running the seeds through their fingers to see if they are good. It is a very hands-on kind of business. We talk to the other traders and share news about the prices. The walls are covered with old calendars and some hooks for our bags. When the monsoon comes, the market gets damp, but we keep our spices dry and high off the floor. We are not interested in being corporate. We just like the way the market works and the people we see every day. It is a tough life sometimes with the heavy lifting and the dust, but it is what we know how to do best.