Kashi Vishwanath & Company: spreading fragrance for 114 years
Amber Gupta has a wide network across Varanasi and purvanchal region
Kashi Vishwanath & Company has been doing the business of fragrances in Banaras and its surrounding dozen districts since 1910. The company started with fragrances and compounding and also deals in other incense and fragrance products. The family is in its fourth generation in business after 114 years. Mr Amber Gupta, head of Kashi Vishwanath Company, said in a special conversation with Sugandh India that he has been involved in fragrance manufacturing for many generations and also trades it. At present the company is also compounding incense sticks, scented tobacco and other fragrance products. Apart from this, the company also sells and circulates products of Shreeji, TPRG of Tamil Nadu, Balaji, Parin and several companies from Bengaluru and Gujarat. Apart from this, the company also sells fragrances of brands like Majmua of Nemat, Aerochem, Atari Fragrance, SFP Sons, SH Kelkar etc. Mr. Amber Gupta said that he is mainly a super stockist and dealer of most of the companies. He has been associated with many companies for last 30 to 60 years. His association with Balaji Agarbatti Co has been for the last 15 years and TPRG for last 25 years. Earlier, the firm also used to deal with Cycle Pure, Parimal and Pandit Agarbatti.
Speaking with Sugandh India, he said that his network spans in a radius of about 200 kilometres around Varanasi, which covers districts like Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Allahabad, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Ghazipur, Mau, Gorakhpur etc with supply even to the Lucknow belt. They have a supply chain of around 150 distributors and 700 big customers. He has his own sales team of 12 people, which supplies throughout Varanasi.
In response to a question, he said that Varanasi is a good market for incense sticks but for the past few years, the market for dhoop has been growing rapidly, as people prefer dry sticks more. He said that the future of Dry Stick is very bright and at present it covers 70% of the market. In this too, 40% of the market is of dry sticks and 30% is of wet dhoop, cones etc. products. He said that the trend of incense sticks is gradually decreasing. The main reason for this is the religious belief regarding bamboo and secondly, people do not prefer wet dhoop because it requires rolling and shaping it before use and it also produces a lot of smoke. Therefore the demand for dry stick products is increasing rapidly.
On the question related to the quality, fragrance and price of agarbattis products in Varanasi, Mr Amber Gupta said that agarbatti products in the range of ₹40-50 dominate the market and the premium range is up to ₹200. In agarbatti, the zipper pack with MRP of ₹70 which is sold for ₹50 is in great demand. Products worth ₹10 are more popular in the outskirts and rural areas of the city. These have an MRP of ₹15, and sell for ₹10. This is the evergreen range. He said that jumbo packs of 1 kg and half kg are also in demand in the market and it has about 30% market share. Traditional dhoop in zipper packs with an MRP of ₹30 has captured the market. There are products from many companies in this range. In this, in the medium range, Balaji is providing premium quality products and therefore its market is increasing. He said that the products from Bengaluru and Delhi dominate the Varanasi market. Now companies from Gujarat have also entered. Apart from Indore and Bihar, products of companies from other states also run in economy and medium range, but in premium, companies from Bengaluru and Gujarat dominate. He said products from Bengaluru dominate 60% of the market and the rest from Gujarat . He said that long ago the products of Gaya based companies used to sell here, but they are out of market now.
In response to a question from Sugandh India, he said that Balaji’s products are also quite popular in the economy segment. Apart from this, there are many brands like Shreeji, Karnataka Fragrance, ZED Black, Cycle Pure, ITC, Pareen, liv touch, Kalpana, Nishan, Neev, Shree Siddhi Fragrance, Flourish and Utsav etc. Similarly, in the medium range also there are companies like Balaji, Z Black, Cycle Pure, Big Bell, Devdarshan, Shreeji and many more. Balaji, Dev Darshan, Cycle Pure, Forest Fragrance, and Big Bell have a good market in premium. Apart from this, the premium segment of companies making economy products is also trendy. He said that Varanasi is such a market where all brands from across the country sell. More or less everyone is present here.
In response to a question, he said that the trend has changed regarding the fragrance of incense sticks. People coming from outside demand new things. The old evergreen fragrances are still prefered but people are also demanding scented, fruity and fancy fragrances.
Mr. Amber Gupta said that Balaji, Shreeji, and Karnataka Fragrances are in the best position in the dry stick market. Their three ranges are economy, medium and premium. Zed Black’s zipper Pack and Devdarshan are quite popular in Dry stick economy range. Apart from this, products of many companies are also available in jar packing. ZED Black and Pandit brands are popular in the economy range of traditional dhoop. Balaji, Shreeji, Karnataka Fragrance, Krishna Kala, Misbah and Sreedhan have a good market in the premium traditional dhoop segment. In response to a question, he said that Hari Darshan holds a good position.Its chandan tilak and puja items are in good demand. He said that ZED Black, TPRG and Patna’s Sugandhi dominate Sambrani sticks. Sambrani cup has numerous brands with Cycle Pure’s Naivedya, Forest fragrance, Balaji and TPRJ’s Tapasya as top sellers. GT Sambrani cup is also present in the market.
He told Sugandh India that there is more than 30% market of loose incense sticks in Varanasi. Apart from the local companies of, loose products from Bihar and Satna of MP are also sold here. There are companies like Kisan, Gaurav and Ashirwad in it. These are mostly sold on the outskirts of the city. He said that Hari Darshan dominates the chandan tika paste and Ashtagandha is dominated by Shivam Kashi. Shivam is also popular in other cities like Vrindavan, Mathura, Haridwar and even states like MP. He said that Balaji also has Ashtagandh, but it is in the premium range. He said that Varanasi is a big hub for Camphor. Here local production is done on a very large scale. That’s why branded camphor doesnt have a market here. Presently camphor is available here for around ₹500/kilo because there is also a big market for scented tobacco here. Brass is produced here. Therefore, there is no market for outside branded camphor here. He said that there is a good market for roll-ons here. The market comprises 1 ml for Rs.10 and 20 ml packs and premium products ranging from ₹500 to ₹700. There is a market for medium ranging from ₹20 to ₹50. Arochem sells the most. Majmua from Nemat Enterprises and Ehsan from SLP Sons have a good market too. Apart from this, Jannatul Firdaus from Atari Fragrances, Mumbai based Al Nuaim also sell.
