Jesal Products One Stop Shop for Incense Manufacturers and Startups: Rakesh Patel
-Jesal Incense sticks rapidly spreading their fragrance across country
Ahmedabad based Jesal Products Private Limited provides incense manufacturers with incense perfumes, machines for incense production and their parts along with necessary raw materials like; charcoal powder, wood powder, white and black premix and bamboo sticks etc. Along with providing the industry with raw materials and machines, the company also has an incense brandunder the name ‘Jesal’. Jesal Products was started by Rakesh Bhai Patel.His son Het Patel who has done his education in chemical field takes care of Jesal brand.
Speaking to Sugandh India, Rakesh Bhai Patel the owner said,” Beforestarting Jesal products in 2020, hehas been a part of incense business since 1998.” He remarked “, The future of this industry is bright. More and more businesses get added every day.Incense sticks are everyday use products. That makes it in demand, always. What you sell has to have quality otherwise it’s just hit and trial.
Talking about his startup days Rakesh bhai said “, We began with Romano, Morning Mist and Bliss brand of incense sticks under Jesal. They were a hit. Today we have more than 75 products selling at 10₹, 20₹, 50₹ and 100₹ a packet.” Rakesh bhai informed us that their market is catching up fast with other established brands. Besides their home state Gujarat being their major market, their market spreads over; Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and their new markets being Assam and Karnataka. “Our focus is the domestic markets. We are also preparing for overseas: that’s next in line,” he said.
Speaking more about his business “, After setting up Jesal products as a provider or raw material and machines to the incense stick industry, we launched our own brand of incense sticks and all this happened in just two years!” He further informed “, We sell machines from Vietnam’s Hung Tuan company along with other parts like piston, nozzle, etc. Joss powder and bamboo sticks are imported from Vietnam and China. ” He remarked thatwith new players emerging in the raw materials domain in every state, the scope for business has become limited. “With local players in other states, it’s hard to beat their prices because of logistics and transportation costs” he remarked.
“Back in 2019, nobody could’ve thought that all will be laced by COVID. Sustaining lockdowns was a challenge. People lost everything! Twenty years of experience in the industry saved us from shutting our business down. Jesal was launched in 2020 and now we also expanding to various products like dry dhoopsticks, sambrani cup, etc” remarked Rakesh bhai.
Taking a cue on the state of the agarbatti industry he remarked “, Too much unnecessary competition is killing the industry. Well, that can’t be helped. It is an open market. A free for all.” Remarking further he said “Manufacturers and stakeholders should join hands to develop this market together for a more positive and healthy competition.” Continuing with his statement he said “, Fluid changes in consumer behaviour forced manufacturers to focus on quality. Customers today want quality in competitive pricing. With more and more HNIs adding to the list, the future holds for premium and luxury incense brands with international quality packaging.”
Sugandh India wanted to know about the rising costs of raw materials. Rakesh bhai, tending a smile replied calmly, “Most of our raw materials are made in-house. We also blend our perfumes.That’s how we keep the prices of our products down.”
Explaining about powders used in incense making, Rakesh bhai said, “black incense sticks are made of charcoal that comes from wood or coconut. Wood powder comes from Sal and Teak Wood trees. For white incense sticks,Rubber wood powder is used. Commenting on the usage of pinewood for making incense sticks, he said that it’s note comes up in burning, it swells up and the finishing is not pleasant.
Het Patel, son of Rakesh bhai is a chemical engineer. He told Sugandha India that he looks after the Jesal brand. Being into perfumery, Het said,“The demand for fancy and deodorant likeperfumes in incense sticks is increasing rapidly. The market for traditional fragrances Rose, Mogra, Chandan and Bela is stable, but the new generation prefers newer fragrances as incense sticksare no longer just for worship. Rather, it is also used as a hobby and mood freshener and in yoga and meditation. In future, the company is preparing to expand into cosmetics, deo and fragrance.”
