After a probe into Coffee Day post the death of its founder VG Siddhartha revealed a gap of around Rs 2,700 crores in its balance sheets, Siddhartha’s wife Malavika Hegde wrote to employees assuring them about the future of Coffee Day.
“Almost a year ago, when I was facing the worst and most tragic circumstance a human being can face, unqualified support from friends & family is what held me up. At the same time, when the crisis hit the company, each of you stood like pillars, held it up and kept it going,” she wrote.
Malavika Hegde, who is now a Director at Coffee Day Enterprises, also thanked all the employees and appreciated their positivity and the hard work they put in during ‘tumultuous’ times.
“When many doubted our survival, we have fought each day shoulder to shoulder on the frontlines for this remarkable company. And that is why we still stand here today,” she added.
Recalling Siddhartha, she said that he always had bold ambitions and while he may not be here today, “without Siddhartha's visionary thinking. great brands and companies like Café Coffee Day, Mindtree, Global Village Tech Park, Way2Wealth, Global Edge and The Serai Resorts may not have existed."
“Yuva, a fully funded residential course in Chikmagalur which skilled thousands of disadvantaged rural youth to make them employable, may not have happened. The 12,000-acre coffee plantation division he put together, the second largest holding in Asia, may not be around,” she further wrote.
She said that she is proud of Siddhartha as a generous human being and a constant seeker.
The large-scale employment and opportunity for growth he had created was his ultimate way of giving back to his community, given his modest beginnings.
“Knowing him for the last 32 years I can tell you that his company was his world and his employees were his family,” she wrote.
Malavika told employees that she is fully aware of the requirements and responsibilities with regards to the transactions between VG Siddhartha’s publicly listed companies and his private entities that the report highlighted, and that she will fully cooperate with the Board and the concerned Authorities for a corrective course of action.
She also told employees that she is committed to the future of Coffee Day as a going concern and informed them that the Board has significantly brought down our debt level from Rs 7,200 crore at the start of last year to Rs 3,200 crore now. “We think that we can bring that to a more manageable level with our plans to sell a few more of our investments shortly,” she added.
But, Malavika noted that the company’s share of challenges are far from over.
Noting that she’s still a novice, Malavika says that in the past 12 months, her mission has been to uphold the proud legacy of Siddhartha.
“He has left me a job to do, to settle every lender the best of my ability, to grow the business and to enthuse and foster our employees. I am grateful that despite a deadly pandemic enforced lockdown, we have been able to sustain businesses and jobs in the last few months,” she wrote.
Thanking vendors, coffee planters and customers who have stood by the company, she said that they will ensure that the brand legacy continues, despite challenging times and never forget all those who helped build it.
“Coffee Day is a genuine Indian consumer story worth preserving,” she signed off.