Shanta Pathak

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Shanta Pathak
Shanta Gaury Pathak died 2010.png
Pathak stood by a company van.
Born
Shanta Guary Pandit

(1927-02-02)2 February 1927
Zanzibar
Died23 November 2010(2010-11-23) (aged 83)
Farnworth, Greater Manchester, England
OccupationBusinesswoman
Known forCo-founder of Patak’s
Spouse(s)
Laxmishanker Pathak
​
(m. 1945)​
Children6

Shanta Gaury Pathak (née Pandit; 2 February 1927 – 23 November 2010) was a British businesswoman of Indo-Ugandan descent, and the co-founder, alongside her husband Laxmishanker Pathak, of the Patak's brand of Indian-style curry pastes, sauces and spices.

Early life[]

Pathak was born Shanta Gaury Pathak Pandit to Gujarati parents in Zanzibar, Tanganyika, on 2 February 1927. [1] In 1945, she married , who in 1938 had emigrated from Gujarat in British India to Mombasa, Kenya, where his eldest brother had a small business making sweets and samosas to the city's burgeoning Indian population.[2]

With the onset of the Mau Mau Uprising, and increasing hostility in their home country under Idi Amin, the Pathaks set sail on a passenger ship from Uganda, stopping in Kenya and Marseilles, and to England in 1956, reaching London with just £5.[2]

Career[]

Patak's papadums, paste pot and Curry paste in 2018

Unhappy about her husband's job cleaning the drains for St Pancras Council, Pathak decided the family should start a similar business to that they had in Kenya, running a kitchen from their Queen's Crescent flat in Kentish Town.[3]

Progress was slow, and it was not until the late 1950s that they had enough money to buy a small shop close to Euston Station, followed by another in 1961, in Bayswater.[3]

In 1962, their neighbours complained about the noise and smell, and the Council gave them three months to find alternative premises.[2] They found a converted mill in Brackley, Northamptonshire, and left London.[2] Later, they relocated to Lancashire.[4]

Over time, the business grew to have an annual turnover of £55 million, when in 2007, it was taken over by Associated British Foods for a reported £105 million.[3]

Personal life[]

They had four sons and two daughters.[1] Her husband died in 1997, but the will he left was unclear, and there were long-running family disputes and various acrimonious court cases.[4]

Later life[]

Pathak died of heart failure on 23 November 2010, at the Royal Bolton Hospital, Farnworth, Bolton, and was survived by her six children.[1]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Pimlott Baker, Anne. "Shanta Gaury Pathak [née Pandit] (1927–2010)". ONDB. OUP. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "Shanta Pathak". 23 December 2010. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  3. ^ a b c Wainwright, Martin (31 December 2010). "Shanta Pathak obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 November 2017 – via www.theguardian.com.
  4. ^ a b "Obituary: Shanta Gaury Pathak, "Curry Queen" of Patak's foods". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
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