Costa's Bebinca, Dodol, Mackrels and Sardines[in brine,oil or tomato],corn beef and Vinicola Porto and sacramental wine are ubiquitous in Goa. Clifford explores the mystery and history of Dr.Ivo da Costa Azaredo's association with the enterprise that generates employment,wealth and a pride in being a Goan in free India.
I met Dr.Ivo da Costa Azaredo when I was a fresh graduate in 1982. After 22 long years the story that I heard one winters day then is what you get to read thanks to Clifford. It inspired me to venture into enterprise on my own.It may do likewise to you. Read on. Viva Goa[ You can toast to that with fruit wine made in Goa] Miguel Dr. IVO DA COSTA AZAREDO : A LEGEND IN HIS OWN TIME. by Clifford W. DeSilva He is a lung specialist and surgeon who has become a leading entrepreneur in Goa. He is a teetotaller who produces the best wines in Goa and a scrupulous vegetarian heading a company which is synonymous with canned fish and meat! Such are the paradoxes that make up the camera-shy genius who brought Costa's out of the red. Dr. Ivo da Costa Azaredo, who turns 79 this month, was born to Beatriz and Francisco Xavier da Costa Azaredo and did his medical studies in Goa Medical College at Panjim and later in Lisboa and Coímbra in Portugal. He was working as a lung surgeon in Pulido Valente, Coímbra when he was recalled to settle the family business upon the death of his father in 1960. "All I wanted was to take two years off to put the affairs of Costa's in order and then return to Coimbra to continue my practise," he recalls wistfully. He never returned to Portugal! Costa & Co. was started by Bernardo Francisco da Costa, a multi-faceted personality whom Azaredo regards as nothing less than a genius of his times. Bernardo was a member of the Portuguese India parliament, authored books on agriculture and founded one of the first newspapers in Goa. In 1885 he started Fabrica de Conservas Costa & Co., the first canning company in Goa. It packed fruits and spices for export to Portugal. By the turn of the century Bernardo had pioneered the export of packaged sea food. Dr.Ivo da Costa Azaredo did have some nebulous ideas in mind when he left Portugal for home and he brought with him a huge tome of industrial recipes and large quantities of tomato puree or paste. This paste was to play a major role in the revival of Costa& Co. Costa's was in a sorry state when Dr.Azaredo took over the reins "temporarily". What does a doctor do when he sees a sick company? Well he does what he is trained to do. He examined the company and found the cause of the trouble. There was hardly any sanitary practise leading to 74 out of 75 cans of mackerel going bad! Moreover, the company "was distributing inexistent profits, the accounts were grossly mismanaged and there was hardly any production." He prescribed a cure that was brilliant in its simplicity: "If you do not have continuous production, you will die!" About this time Dr.Azaredo got a significant order for canned mackerel from Sri Lanka. With scarcely available resources, Dr. Azaredo got 1,00,000 cans ready at the cost of Rs. 50,000/-. But. the mackerel did not come that season! Facing total ruin, the drowning Dr. Azaredo was grasping for the proverbial straw. It is said that there is no luck; there is only preparedness to meet an opportunity. One day someone suggested that he should at least can sardines since he had the infrastructure. Sardine canning was disallowed because Portuguese wanted to preserve the exclusiveness of their own famed Portuguese sardines. Braving the ridicule of the people who laughed when they saw him carry huge loads of sardines in his personal Volkswagen Combi and risking the ire of the Portuguese, Dr. Azaredo went ahead with production. "I had to act before my cans became rusty and we were all consigned to the poor house," he recalls with a wry smile. Now was when that shipment of tomato paste was put to significant use. Packed in tomato puree, the cans of sardine were dispatched to the Goan market. The date stands out in the Doctor's memory: 12th December 1961. There was stiff objection from the Portuguese authorities. Says he gleefully, "A week later, the Portuguese were ousted from Goa!" Carmo Azavedo happened to write in Heraldo that Costa's sardines were as good s Portuguese sardines. This immediately led to a debate in Heraldo: was Carmo Azavedo paid to praise Costa's? The result was the entire production got sold out!" That was the remaking of Costa's. Sticking to his simple maxim of continuous production Dr. Azaredo kept thinking up new products to package. After experimenting with first making wine in two garafaos he eventually started Vinicola and the bottling of port, sparkling wine, sec, demi sec and even Vermouth (both red and white). Today it is not an exaggeration to say that in Goa wine means Vinicola. Dr. Azaredo thanks God that he is blessed with two children who have great initiative and creativity. His daughter Maria Francisca Beatriz is married to Giovanni Vaz of Karma fame. His son Roque ('Bebe') is married to Bina Kunde. It is Roque who is responsible for much of the expansion that Costa's has seen in recent years, modernising the equipment, adding the cold meats section and introducing the Deutsch Sausage and the fully-loaded laboratory for testing and analysis to ensure that production is of the highest quality. He has also made a mark for quality with his construction company 'Venusta' and the decorative ceramic tiles company, Goa Velha. Dr. Azaredo is a satisfied man as he looks on the various Costa enterprises: Costa & Co., Venusta Constructions, Goa Velha, and Cores de India, a little shop in Portugal which stocks everything Goan from coconut shell 'doule' to the famed, red clay pots of Goa. Dr. Azaredo's philosophy is "Live a simple life." This is obvious from his dress, manner and habits. He believes in making money in order to help others - he supplies the Sacramental wine for the entire Goa Archdiocese absolutely free of cost! He believes that "the most important resource of a company is the people who work for you" and always gives them a fair deal. Perhaps it is fitting to end with his own quip which he proclaims with a mischievous gleam in his eye: "Give the people the best you can - it PAYS in the long run!"