Having tasted success with its entry into
the agarbatti (incense stick) market, in which
it now occupies the second position, FMCG major
ITC is planning to make a foray into new areas
such as the perfumed candles segment.
It
had already made a small beginning and
test-marketing is now being done. “The response
has been good, since it is a lifestyle and
ambience-creating product,” a source said. The
product, which involves using fancy perfumes on
conventional paraffin wax candles, can burn for
nearly 50 hours. Perfumed candles have ready
markets in the U.S. and Europe, sources said.
However, even as such exercises go on, agarbatti
continued to be a focus area, sources said.
When
contacted by The Hindu, V. Rajasekharan CEO, ITC
agarbatti business, said that perfumed candles
were not the company’s focus area now. “Rather
the emphasis is on agarbattis”. He said the
company was now selling between 230 million and
250 million sticks a month and many of ITC’s
partners in this business have also received ISO
certification.
Mr.
Rajasekharan said with a five per cent share of
the organised market, ITC’s Mangaldeep brand was
now in the second slot (in the organised market)
just after the Cycle brand. The biggest markets
for incense sticks were Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu
and West Bengal and also the North Indian
States. Perfumes used on the products conform to
the norms of the International Fragrance
Research Association.
He
said recently the company had entered into an
arrangement with the Tirumala Tirupati
Devasthanam (TTD) for supplying Mangaldeep
agarbatti to be sold to devotees as part of
their offering to Lord Balaji. A similar
arrangement has been entered into for making
offerings at the Vaishno Devi Temple too. Around
seven million sticks had already been supplied
to the two temple authorities so far and the
company was exploring similar options with other
temple authorities, Mr. Rajasekharan said.
ITC
started to market agarbattis (incense sticks)in
2004. Its business model which creates
livelihood for nearly 5,000 women directly (and
many more indirectly) involves small firms, NGOs
and women self-help groups. It buys the product
from small firms which buy the raw agarbattis
from women who have been organised into
self-help groups facilitated by ITC. The entire
process follows quality norms laid down by ITC,
he said.
Bamboo sticks, one of the crucial raw material
for agarbatti-making, is available in Andhra
Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and the North East.
At the behest of the government of Tripura, a
State which abounds in good quality bamboo, ITC
set up a unit in Agartala in partnership with a
local company. It has also entered into
programmes for the development of bamboo stick
for making agarbattis with other States.
