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REAL GROUP TURNS 80!
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REAL GROUP TURNS 80!

ANNIVERSARY, Sept 05- Sept 11, 2026 September 4, 2026 , by

THIS is the story of a pioneering Goan entrepreneur and the business empire he built. Gajanan Ganu Shirodkar, affectionately remembered as “Baba,” is one of the lesser-known but important pioneers of modern Goan business. From humble beginnings in Shiroda, he came to Panaji as a young man with an unusually ambitious dream: to build businesses, establish factories and, importantly, create employment for fellow Goans. That aspiration eventually produced the Real Group of Companies, a diversified family enterprise whose roots go back to 1946.
 His story is significant because it belongs to the generation of Goan entrepreneurs who began building indigenous businesses around the period of Liberation and subsequently, developed local brands capable of competing in Goa’s rapidly changing consumer economy.
Gajanan came from Shiroda in South Goa and moved to Panaji with his brothers. According to an account written by his son Vinod Shirodkar, even as a young man in his village Gajanan spoke of going to the city, establishing businesses and factories and providing employment.
That ambition was not accompanied by a privileged industrial inheritance. He had to create his own commercial base.
His first major venture was Café Real, established around 1946 in Panaji. It began as a modest eatery but became much more than a restaurant. Traditional Goan snacks, tea and inexpensive food attracted a remarkably broad clientele. Lawyers, politicians, businessmen, journalists, artists and ordinary residents became regular customers.
Café Real therefore became the foundation stone of the Real identity.

Why the Name “Real”?
 THE name REAL was reportedly coined by Gajanan himself. It subsequently became the common identity linking the family’s expanding businesses.
This was an important piece of entrepreneurial instinct. Instead of operating a collection of unrelated businesses with unrelated identities, Gajanan gradually created a recognizable Goan consumer brand.

From Café Real to Agencia Real
 CAFE REAL was followed by Agencia Real, with both businesses dating to approximately 1946 according to the family’s historical account.
The diversification was striking. The group moved into trading and distribution and subsequently handled an assortment of consumer products, including beverages and liquor as well as products such as watches, cosmetics, clothing, leather goods and other merchandise.

This was characteristic of the old-style entrepreneurial business house: rather than specialising in one narrow product, the founder looked for opportunities throughout the emerging Goan consumer market.

The Beverage Breakthrough
 ONE of Gajanan’s most important moves was entering beverage manufacturing.
Real Drinks Pvt Ltd began manufacturing Real Soda in 1972, according to a Business Goa account of the company’s history.
The beverage portfolio subsequently expanded considerably. Products associated with Real have included Real Soda, Real Cola, Lemon, Orange, Real Manik, Tonic Water, Kane Mix Berry and packaged drinking water, among others.
Real Manik had a particularly personal story. It was developed in memory of Gajanan’s mother, Manik Ganu Shirodkar, whom the family affectionately remembered as “Baa.”
The Real beverage business therefore combined commercial branding with family identity.

Entry into Goa’s liquor industry
 GAJANAN also entered one of Goa’s most distinctive industries — alcoholic beverages.
Court records state that around 1974, the business began manufacturing palm feni and cashew feni for the Goan market. From 1977, the Real name was used for Indian-made foreign liquor including whisky, brandy, rum and wines.
The group subsequently operated through businesses including Real House Distillery and related companies.
Real’s wines became particularly remembered in Goa. Accounts of the period mention a popular sparkling wine sold in small bottles, sometimes referred to colloquially as Real Champagne. The family’s 2021 history says wine production was later discontinued.

The Kingfisher Connection
 ANOTHER important chapter was Real’s relationship with United Breweries and Kingfisher beer.
Historical accounts say Real became the Kingfisher beer distributor in Goa after Liberation and retained the relationship for more than five decades.
For a relatively small state, control of an important beverage distribution network could provide a formidable commercial base. It helped establish Real not merely as a manufacturer but as a distribution and marketing organisation.
This is one reason the Real story should not be viewed simply as the history of Café Real or Real Soda. It was a broader combination of manufacturing + distribution + trading + hospitality.

Gajanan, the Entrepreneur
 WHAT emerges from accounts by people who knew him is a portrait of a hands-on entrepreneur.
At Café Real, Gajanan reportedly continued to sit at the counter and interact directly with customers. One account recalls him spending hours there exchanging views and maintaining personal contact with his clientele.
He was also remembered for unconventional marketing.
One often-repeated example concerns watches sold by his business. The watches were reportedly placed in an aquarium filled with water and live fish to demonstrate their water resistance. Whether viewed as ingenious or theatrical, the episode illustrates Gajanan’s instinct for attention-grabbing local marketing.
His philosophy appears to have been strongly reputation-oriented. The Real Group today says its mission is not simply to maximise profit but to build goodwill, reputation and a lasting name.

The Family Tragedy & Dilip Shirodkar
 THE development of Real suffered a major setback when Gajanan’s eldest son, Dilip G Shirodkar, died prematurely.
Dilip had reportedly played an important role in expanding the business created by his father. Accounts of the group consequently give him considerable credit for its subsequent development and say the business came to be associated with his memory.
This is an important part of the Real story because the group was not simply passed intact from founder to children. It experienced the disruption and emotional trauma of losing an important member of the second generation.

Vinod, Rajesh & the Next Generation
 FOLLOWING Gajanan’s era, Vinod Shirodkar and Rajesh Shirodkar became prominent figures in the management of the group, with Harishchandra Shirodkar also identified among its directors in published accounts.
Vinod has also documented his father’s life and the history of Real, providing much of the available first-hand family narrative.
The corporate records of individual Real companies demonstrate that the Shirodkar family continues to occupy directorship positions in several entities. This reinforces the description of Real as a family-controlled group of private companies rather than a conventional single corporation.

What the Real Group Became
 OVER several decades, the enterprise developed into a diversified collection of businesses.
The group’s own website currently describes activities spanning:
hospitality
beverages
manufacturing
wholesale
retailing
liquor-related businesses
real estate
horticulture
milk and milk products
other goods and services.
Companies and brands associated with the group have included Café Real, Real Drinks, Agencia Real, Real Food Exporters and Real House/Bottling, among others.
The important point is the breadth of the enterprise. Gajanan was not merely a restaurateur who happened to start making soft drinks. He built an integrated consumer-business house.

A Distinctly Goan Institution
 PERHAPS the most interesting aspect of Gajanan’s legacy is the relationship between business and Goan public life.
The Real Group has supported and sponsored numerous cultural, sporting and public events, including Carnaval, Bonderam, Holi, IFFI-related events, sports programmes, school and college activities and public-cause events.
The group is also credited in contemporary accounts with supporting the revival of Goa’s Carnaval after Liberation, including sponsorship connected with the King Momo float.
That helped turn the Real name into something larger than a commercial trademark. It became part of the social and cultural landscape of Panaji.

Café Real — The Enduring Symbol
 IRONICALLY, after all the factories, beverages, distribution businesses and liquor ventures, the enterprise’s most enduring public symbol may still be Café Real.
The café has survived as a piece of old Panaji. Its traditional snacks and informal atmosphere have attracted generations of Goans and visitors. Contemporary descriptions still portray it as a meeting place for lawyers, politicians, artists, businessmen and ordinary citizens.
It is therefore both a business asset and a living monument to Gajanan Shirodkar.

Gajanan Shirodkar’s Legacy
 GAJANAN Ganu Shirodkar’s achievement lies less in creating a single giant company than in creating something unusual for Goa: a locally rooted, multi-generational consumer business group.
He started with a café in Panaji and expanded into trading, distribution, beverages, liquor, manufacturing and hospitality. He created the REAL brand, developed products under that identity, built distribution relationships and established a family business that survived his death and the premature loss of his eldest son.
His entrepreneurial formula was relatively straightforward but powerful:
start small — build trust— create a brand — diversify — distribute— manufacture — reinvest in Goa — preserve the family name.
The Real Group’s own stated objective today — building reputation and goodwill rather than pursuing profit alone — closely echoes the image of Gajanan presented by his family and contemporary Goan observers.
For that reason, Gajanan Shirodkar deserves to be remembered as one of Goa’s pioneering indigenous consumer entrepreneurs: a man who came from Shiroda with a dream of building businesses and employment, and whose modest Café Real ultimately became the seed from which an entire Real business family grew.
In one sentence: Gajanan Shirodkar turned a Panaji café into a Goan brand, the brand into a diversified business group, and the business group into a family legacy that has endured for roughly eight decades.

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