Established in 1850 – Jahagirdar Agarbatti is One the Oldest Premium Masala Agarbatti Houses of Pune
-Along with incense sticks, we are now expanding to spray perfumes : Abdul Rahman
The domestic incense market is going through a déjà vu. Customers are silently switching over to vintage fragrances… something that was prevalent two or three generations ago. The trend emerging in the past two years is more towards; Oud, Bakhoor and Shamama. This was revealed by Abdul Rehman Ahmed Attar, the head of Jahagirdar Agarbatti and First Choice Fragrance, a Pune-based incense and perfumery company. The company manufactures masala agarbatti, regular black batti, white dipping batti and dry dhoop sticks. Along with that they have also entered the spray perfume segment and recently have started exporting bakhoor.
Jahagirdar Agarbatti was established in 1850 by Hussain Bhai. Abdul Rehman Ahmed Attar and his brothers; Abdullah and Abu Bakar are the seventh generation. Abdul Rehman, talking to ‘Sugandh India’ said that he looks after marketing and his elder Abdullah brother handles the perfumery division while younger brother Abu Bakar takes care of production. In response to a question, Abdul Rehman said, “We have recently started exporting bakhoor. Its domestic demand is going up as well. Earlier, people were more into loban but as per the growing arabian notes trend, people are demanding bakhoor.
Elaborating on their product-line, Abdul Rehman informed “, We have 110 products in lose packaging and around 120 products in 20-100 gram packaging. We make both premium and regular incense sticks. Our premium masala agarbatti products range roughly between ₹1500 to ₹3000 a Kilo in wholesale. The regular segment is priced between ₹200 to ₹1000 a Kilo.” Talking about distribution, he said; Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, J&K and Kerala are their focus markets besides gulf countries where their incense are enjoying growing demand.”
On the question regarding the challenges in the industry faced by the manufactures, Mr. Rehman responded, “There are no challenges as such. Talking about the fluctuating raw material prices, we adjust the prices of our products accordingly. Maharashtra is a great market. Mumbai, Pune and other metropolitan cities prefer high-quality incense and price is not a factor. Other states have a major market for cheap products and so we have set the price accordingly. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh demand 15₹, 50₹ and 75₹ a pack products. Mumbai and Pune generate 80% demand in the premium segment.” Coming back to products he said “, Although; Special Hina, Khus, Amber Hina and Golden Queen are very successful, Kesar Chandan is their best-seller. It costs ₹1200 a Kilo. Oud, Bakhoor and Shamama are growing in demand. These are available in box packing at ₹1500 a Kilo for wholesale. Retail packing comes in 100g.”
Switching off-the-topic on incense products, Abdul Rehman said that apart from incense sticks we are also expanding into dhoops, loban and bakhoor. Spray perfumes is also another vertical we are now focusing on.
Continuing with his statement “, The incense stick market is growing rapidly and the future is bright. The important thing is, customers now want quality products with competitive pricing. One bad experience and the customer will switch over to another brand. Manufacturers who trade-off quality over price won’t last long.” Other than manufacturing, Abdul Rehman also has a retail counter and so Sugandh India wanted to know about the Pune market. He responded, “In the regular segment, the brands from Bengaluru, Gujarat, Nagpur along with other Indian cities have a hold. Pune majorly is a premium product market which is why the products of Pune based century old companies who make natural masala incense sticks have a good demand. There is an equal demand for products from other states and Maharashtra based brands. Earlier however, the demand for Bengaluru brands was more.” He added, “The packaging trends are mainly of 100 gram boxes and 120 grams zippers. Loose packaging trend is declining. Round bunch packaging or muthha packaging in restricted mainly to Konkan region.”
Sugandh India wanted to know, despite being home to incense stick manufacturers for over a century… Pune failed, in becoming a manufacturing hub, unlike Ahmedabad or Nagpur. Abdul Rehman responded, “If you review our local market and the manufacturers, you’ll find; Pune is a home to manufacturers who have been making high quality masala agarbatti since more than a century and around 80% of Pune’s customers also prefer premium incense brands. Comparing that to the rest of country, our products are expensive for markets in other states. But on the positive side, the market for premium quality incense sticks is growing across the country.” Abdul Rehman, on usage of incense sticks other than for praying said, “People are burning incense sticks more than before. From homes to shops to hotels, incense sticks are being burned 24/7. Earlier a customer who would buy 1-2 kg of incense sticks now buys several kilos. People have started using incense sticks as room fresheners now.”
Explaining the fragrance trends, Mr. Rehman said, “Oudh, Bakhoor, Shamama and mukhallat fragrances are gaining popularity in metros. In regular segment, French perfume notes still lead. The customer who prefers masala agarbatti doesn’t switch. People now prefer natural fragrances because the quality is on higher side. The market for local products is shrinking. Premium is on the rise.”
Lastly, talking about future plans, Abdul Rehman said “, We are expanding to premium incense sticks, bakhoor and spray perfumes. We will initially launch our spray perfumes in the local market and then export.” Talking about exports, he added “Dubai is our major market. We as of now are not considering other markets like Africa as the demand there is of cheap products and ours are mostly premium.”
