Started with 300 taka, now his business is worth thousands of taka

He started the vegetable business in 1977 with a capital of only 300 rupees. From that business today his business size is about 1000 crore rupees. We say Phultala upazila of Khulna. About Feroz Ahmed.

Feroz Ahmed's jute mills and tanneries now employ about one and a half thousand workers. He is the owner of Superex Leather Limited and Super Jute Mill, one of the largest tanneries in the country located in Uttardihi of Phultala. He is a followable entrepreneur in Khulna area. The area is known as Rabindranath Tagore's in-laws area. Rabindranath Tagore's in-laws in Dakshindihi village.

Now let's start the story of the beginning of Feroz Ahmed. After independence, Feroz Ahmed's father Abdul Khalek Bhuiyan worked as a tobacconist in Khulna Tobacco. Among his five sons, Feroz Ahmed Maj. It was not possible for Abdul Khalek Bhuiyan to meet the expenses of a large family. So the family spent their days eating and not eating. No one could get more than one dress a year.

Prothom Aloke said, 'We don't have to look back after getting the certificate of LWG. We will then be able to sell processed leather directly to world-renowned brands such as Adidas, Puma and Gucci. These companies do not buy leather without environmentally friendly tanneries.

Feroze Ahmed

In 1977, Feroz Ahmed and his elder brother Ferdous Bhuiyan started selling vegetables by the road side of Fultala Bazar after taking Tk 300 from the land sale of their family home. Due to his young age, Firoz Ahmed used to pick and drop vegetables. After a few years, they used the profit of the vegetable business in the wood business. Firoz Ahmed sees profit in wood business. This is how they struggle to survive. Slowly the world started to get comfortable.

In 1988, he leased a brick kiln in Fultala for 80,000 taka. Feroz Ahmed did not have to look back after that. Worked day and night. In Khulna, their company named Super Bricks is well known. It is now seen by his elder brother.

Firoz Ahmed set up a jute mill named Super Jute Mill in 2006 near Phultala Bazar in Khulna spending about two and a half billion taka. He also succeeded in jute. About 1000 workers work there now.

Recently sat and talked with Firoz Ahmed at the factory of Superex Leather Limited in Phultala, Khulna. He told the story of his life to Prothom Alo. 58-year-old Firoz Ahmed is serving as the managing director of the company.

Firoz Ahmed said, "The family could not survive on the small salary of the father. I was forced to trade vegetables. I slept with the workers in the brickyard at night. I have come so far in life through honesty and hard work. I never cheated the workers. Because, in my first life, I myself worked like a laborer.

Country's Largest Tannery Superex Leather
The success of jute mills led Feroze Ahmed to become interested in the leather processing industry. In 2016, he established an eco-friendly tannery named Superex Leather Limited in Uttardihi, a remote village of Phultala upazila in Khulna. He invested about 700 crores in it. The daily leather processing capacity of this factory is about 80 thousand square feet. The factory can process the raw hides of 3,000 cows and 2,000 goats in a day. Feroz Ahmed claims that it is one of the largest tanneries in the country. An Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) has been constructed covering an area of ​​one acre.

Recently, it has been seen that 40 acres of factory area is full of various types of plants including mango, jam, jackfruit, catbel, coconut. About 1000 trees have been planted. The factory building is red ceramic brick, looking like a red carpet in green.

Country's Largest Tannery Superex Leather
Inside the factory is the leather processing shed. The area of ​​this shed is about 4 lakh 25 thousand square feet. From processing raw hides to 'finished' hides, everything happens there. Next to the rawhide warehouse. Cold storage for raw hides at the warehouse. The entire factory is running on Italian machinery.

Dormitories have been constructed in the factory area for foreign buyers. There is also a canteen. Went there and met with Fernando Perchenberger, a buyer of a company called Cimaca in Portugal.

He came to see firsthand how their leather orders were being processed. He often comes to Khulna. Fernando Perchenberger told Prothom Alo that he has visited many factories in Bangladesh, but he has rarely seen such environmentally friendly factories.

Awaiting Environmental Certification
The factories which export leather to Europe-America, have to get the certificate of the international organization Leather Working Group (LWG). A handful of institutions in the country have received this certificate. Superex Leather Limited has also applied for this certificate. A delegation of that organization will come to Uttardihi next month to visit the factory. It is known that if the visiting team is satisfied with the factory, the certificate can be obtained within two-one months. One of the conditions for obtaining this certificate is that the factory must have its own ETP.

In this regard, Feroz Ahmed told Prothom Alo, "We will not have to look back after getting the certificate of LWG." We will then be able to sell processed leather directly to world-renowned brands such as Adidas, Puma and Gucci. These companies do not buy leather without environmentally friendly tanneries.

Firoz Ahmed said that the export of Superex leather has decreased due to the corona epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. Before Corona, 10-12 lakh square feet of leather was exported every month. It has come down to 2-3 lakh square feet. Superex exports leather to Portugal, Germany, Italy and Japan.