August 2020: India is known for its soft power and peaceful religion, the daily worship and religious rituals here constitute a huge market for incense sticks, which are an integral part of Indian culture. The market for incense sticks and dhoop is more than 15000 crores and this is continuously growing at a speed of 15%. The Agarbatti and Dhoop segment is the fastest-growing market after IT in which investors are excited to invest.
According to Mr. Sanjeev Nayar, Director, Mode Retails Sales & Marketing Pvt. Ltd., post-COVID, the FMCG industry has taken a big hit. However, this sector has proved to be on a strong footing. Given the recent “Bhoomi-Poojan” of Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the world has its eyes on India. With the surge in the devotion factor among the public, and also with the gradual opening of worship-places across the country, it will be a matter of time before the demand for Agarbatti and dhoop starts picking up once again.
‘Prabhu Shri Ram’ (PSR), one of the newest brands of this FMCG segment that connects people emotionally, is producing incense sticks and Dhoop with 100% pure and natural fragrances. ‘Prabhu Shri Ram’ (PSR),has attracted the investment talk of around 150 crores from overseas investors. It has entered into its final stage and the closure of these deals will be done soon as the talks are at the advanced level.
The current demand for Agarbatti is at 1500 metric tons per day whereas the current supply rate is just half of that i.e., 750 MT. This huge gap received a further boost when Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted the Indian manufacturing sector to become “Atma-Nirbhar.” ‘Prabhu Shri Ram’ (PSR), took this opportunity in its stride and got down to fulfil the supply by increasing its manufacturing capacity. This situation has arisen due to Govt. of India banning Agarbatti imports from China and Vietnam.
Today ‘Prabhu Shri Ram’ (PSR), is a pioneer in introducing its eco-friendly and health-safe white sticks, which uses 100% natural fragrances. Compare this to a large portion of the industry, which is still using charcoal-based black Agarbatti, and you would realize why PSR is considered the connoisseur of this business. In fact, after the national lockdown announced in March 2020, the FMCG and personal care market took a huge hit in terms of distribution network disruption, which further widened the demand and supply gap. After the un-lockdown, the retailers are now looking for enhanced opportunities to grow in a recession-free environment. Thus, they are ready to invest in products with longer shelf-life in terms of public health.
Armed with its USP of 100% natural fragrances, ‘Prabhu Shri Ram’ (PSR), will be generating about Rs. 200 crore in its first two years of business. That may be partly due to its 360-degree marketing to target its consumers. The company is also aiming to establish a distribution network in Tier Two & Three cities and town to make the products available.
This time, however, ‘Prabhu Shri Ram’ (PSR), will be ready with its natural products, leading its customers ahead of the path of devotion in an eco-friendly way!
