ARTICLE ON NAMASTE.COM CEO DATED DECEMBER 15,1999 ON SCHWAB ALERT
EthnicGrocer gets gourmet backers
A six month old Web site specializing in online sales of ethnic
food has won financial backing from venture capital firms with a
strong Silicon Valley pedigree. Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers
and Benchmark capital will invest $12 million in EthnicGrocer.com.
CEO Parry Singh told CBS.MarketWatch.com he launched the site
after hearing a relative complain her husband wouldn't accompany
her on the long drive to an Indian grocery store "where she could
buy her pickles and curry." A light bulb went off in his head,
said Singh, a graduate of Northwestern University's Kellogg
business school. Ethnic groups spend $64 billion a year in North
America, he realized. The Latin American population is growing 17
percent a year, Chinese and Indians at seven percent, compared to
the overall national growth rate of one-half percent. "What an
opportunity!," he thought. Singh's company has several other,
specialized sites, offering Chinese (HuanYin.com), Latin American
(QueRico.com) and Indian (Namaste.com) foods, spices, recipes and
cooking utensils and household items. "I looked at the market for
these items, and then at the supply chain - and found most of the
stores serving these consumers are small, not focused on customer
service, and poorly stocked." Asked whether ethnic groups are
likely to find his Web venture, Singh said sales have been growing
150 percent a month since June. He pointed out also that PC
penetration among Asian households is almost double that of the
U.S. (65 percent vs. 33 percent). "And most of the growth is among
the young, representing the fastest growing consumer group on the
Internet."