Tributes have been paid following the death of the founder of Indian snack manufacturer Cofresh.
Dineshbhai Patel passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his immediate family and his siblings, aged 81. He leaves behind his wife Savitaben, sons Priyesh and Minesh, daughter-in-laws Divya and Darshana, and four grandchildren.
Mr Patel launched Cofresh in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1965, making potato crisps and popcorn for local cinemas, shops, colleges and schools. After emigrating to the UK in the 1970s, he and his wife Savitaben invested their life savings in a disused Leicester fish and chip shop.
They lived above the shop, and used the fryers to make handmade spicy peanuts and green peas, which they packed by hand and sold to Asian working men’s clubs, shops and pubs. The business flourished thanks to the couple’s hard work and their ability to meet growing demand for authentic Indian snacks.
Mr and Mrs Patel were soon joined by his brothers and in the late 1990s by his sons, with Priyesh Patel going on to lead the business as its managing director.
Cofresh grew into a multi-million pound manufacturer, selling its Bombay mix, spicy mix, chick peas, chilli chips and other ranges to all the main UK supermarkets. A healthier Eat Real range was launched a few years ago and the business – with turnover last year of £52.5 million – found customers in 60 countries around the world.
Cofresh was sold to Vibrant Foods in 2020 – by which time it had grown to 250 people with factories in Leicester and Nuneaton – and despite the changes and getting well past the retirement age, Mr Patel remained committed to its success, visiting the Leicester factory every day and helping on the packing lines until as recently as last November.
In the summer of 2020 Mr and Mrs Patel bought Barnsdale Hall Hotel, on the banks of Rutland Water, before carrying out extensive renovations and renaming it Rutland Hall Hotel and Spa. It was recently picked out by The Times as one of Britain's 100 best places to stay for 2023.
At the time of the purchase the couple said: “We fell in love with it the moment we saw it, and are incredibly excited to have the opportunity to take it to the next stage of its development and journey.”
His lust for life meant even at the age of 70 he had climbed part way up Mount Kailash in India with his wife, reaching a height of 5,800 ft, and at the age of 73 skydived for Leicester’s LOROS Hospice – a charity which was close to his heart.
Kamlesh Purohit, acting managing editor of BBC Radio Leicester, whose family was close to the Patels, said Mr Patel had been a “truly remarkable person”.
He said: “I have not met a more humble, generous, and kind-hearted man than Shri Dineshbhai Patel – the founder of the Cofresh Snack Foods and owner of the beautiful Rutland Hall Hotel.
“I’m proud that my family was able to share the early part of the Cofresh journey back in the early 1970s and watch how he faced the struggles and challenges of setting up a new business head-on with an unparalleled determination and vision and turning it into a multimillion-pound business.
“And having adopted my mum as a sister, he was always Dineshmama to us.
“What a fantastic role-model he has been to the British Asian community, and the legacy he has passed on to his amazing sons Priyesh bhai and Minesh.
“This is a monumental loss for the entire nation.”
Well-known Leicester businessman Uday Dholakia, who is a key member of the Leicester Asian business community, said he was deeply saddened by news of the death.
He said: “A thoroughly humble human being, grounded industrialist, a wise consul, a generous and affectionate man.
“A passage in time, full of memories, achievements against odds, humility in abundance and profound vivacity for progress. A loss to me of a great mentor and revered elder statesman.”
