Kalpana meeting consumer expectations for 50 years: Rajeev Shah

Kalpana is a brand of agarbatti Ahmedabad is proud of. Besides their home state Gujarat, this brand is etching a name for itself in Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh. More! Australia, New Zealand, USA and Bangladesh are importing this brand for their markets. The secret behind this brand is the legacy created with customer satisfaction. Meeting consumer expectations for the last half century is our strong point, remarked Rajeev Bhai Shah, the owner of this Ahmedabad-based incense brand. Talking about naming their brand as Kalpana, he said, It was his father who gave this name. Its meaning in Gujarati is ‘imagination’. Imagination can be achieved by innovation and strict quality, which my father wanted to deliver to his customers when he started. I aim to take our brand to become the most sought-after brand in this country. Kalpana debuted with Sandhya (agarbatti) more than fifty years ago. Then came Saheli. and then Sugandh Vatika. Kasturi brand has been successfully running across India for over 15 years.

The Shah family has achieved great success after starting from the bottom in the incense sticks and fragrance industry. Rajiv Bhai Shah shared that his father, Shri Kanubhai Shah, founded Shri Kalpana Perfumery Works Private Limited in 1970 because he had a passion for fragrances. His father’s hard work and dedication helped establish the company and build its reputation in the market. Initially, he produced and sold the products himself in the local market. He used to sell agarbattis on a cycle in the beginning days. Rajiv Bhai recalled his father’s earlier days when a part of their home was used as a factory, but eventually, they rented a larger space to expand the business. Today, the company boasts a large factory.

In response to a question, he acknowledged there are now more producers than in the past, but the demand for high-quality products is still growing. He proudly shared that his father’s local business became a national brand, and now the second and third generations are continuing to uphold and expand his legacy across India. Anand Shah, Rajiv Bhai’s son, is also involved in the family business.

Anand Shah, co-owner of Kalpana brand remarked that the agarbatti industry is a free-for-all gambit. The industry is overcrowded with local manufacturers and their cheap quality products. They are a threat to the sanity of a healthy competition. If this ain’t enough— big agarbatti companies, throttle businesses like ours with scheme after scheme. Anyways… Our brand has survived for over half a century. Constant innovation and quality control brought us this far. We have progressed with the customer’s trust. Moreover, this is demonstrated by the trust our distributors, dealers, and retailers place in us. We have a huge network of pan-India supply chains. Mr Shah informed Sugandh India that 95% of products are made as per customer needs. They are pocket-friendly.

Anand Shah said that the production of premium products is only five per cent. However, the company is bringing more products in the premium range.  Around 70% of their product line is agarbatti— the rest are dhoop, dry sticks and sambrani cups. The brand is adding more products in their premium range, said Mr Shah. Around 80% of their regular products are; priced at 60₹, 70₹ and 80₹ a packet. Talking about their packaging, Mr Shah said that zippers (pouches) are preferred more in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and their home state. Customers in West Bengal like box packing. Muttha (Roll) packing is widely used in Mumbai. He said the sale of traditional wet dhoop and dry dhoop sticks has increased considerably in Delhi, UP and Jammu. The incense (dhoop) market has shown remarkable growth; that was less than 20% a few years back. Today, it has eaten almost half of the agarbatti market.

Anand Shah, in response to Sugandh India’s question regarding challenges being faced, said that as a producer one has to face a lot of challenges. Especially the prices of raw materials keep increasing drastically. When imports from China and Vietnam were stopped, everyone faced problems for 7-8 months but later everything came back on track. Apart from this, there is also the problem of labor shortage. The prices of packing material keep increasing, but currently the market is stable. He said that he keeps the rates of his products according to the demand and needs of the consumers. The average rate in various states is 40 sticks at an MRP of ₹50. When a customer buys a product, he sees its quality and only then his trust is established.

On average, two to three out of ten customers are brand-conscious. The numbers are increasing. Thanks to their quality consciousness buying dhoop and agarbattis. Mr Shah pointed out that anybody with a few thousand rupees of cash can enter this business and start their label. However, it does not work in the long run unless they give good quality and diversity in their products. Mr Shah commented that the situation of credit has improved post-Covid: Dealers today buy goods on credit for a short time. He said the borrowing problem will end in the next two to three years.

Mr Shah informed Sugandh India that they recently launched premium dry dhoop sticks with signature fragrances. They are also producing high-end organic flora agarbatti. He pointed out that this type of agarbatti needs special attention. The shelf life is less than four months. Its substitute is white stick which is made with the same ingredients and is better to use. Although the trend of flora and fruity-flavoured agarbattis has increased, the demand for traditional agarbatti will never die.

Informing Sugandh India about their exports, Mr Shah said that export-oriented dhoop and agarbattis aren’t separately made: Yes, the export market is different and we have incorporated both needs under one roof. The company will draft a plan for exporting goods soon. It is a fact that dhoop and agarbatti are used primarily for worship and rituals and less than 20% for fragrancing an enclosed area. Keeping the 20% in mind, the company has launched custom-designed incense products for yoga, aroma therapy and related activities though has not promoted them in this way. The company is constructing depots across India to ease logistics in high-demand markets.

Mr Shah announced that his company launched an incense range dedicated to the Almighty. Some of the names disclosed to Sugandh India are Omkar (dedicated to Lord Shiva), Vakratund (dedicated to Ganapati), Chiranjeevi (dedicated to Hanuman) and Madhav Darshan (dedicated to Lord Krishna)… available in zipper pouches. The company just released a zipper box of 250g full of premium quality incense. 

Finally, he talked about their CSR, along the lines of giving back to society. His company has set focus on their community and workers providing employee benefits and family care.