Parimal Mandir Synonymous with quality
-Consistency, from first to the billionth incense stick: Swaraj R Sunku
-Our focus is not on the rat race, but on the quality.
Parimal Mandir is a globally established brand in the incense sticks, fragrance industry. The company ensures that the fragrance and quality remains constant in every stick. Late Shree Sunku Gundaiah Setty started the business in 1942 under the name ‘Gandhi Flour Mills and Perfumery Works’. The founder, a well known name throughout the agarbatti industry was also one of the founding members of Mysore Oodabathi Manufacturers Charitable Trust. In 1983, Parimal Mandir was registered and S Jagannath and his four brothers S G Radhakrishna, S G Raghuram, S G Vijay and S G Ajay took company to new heights.
Swaraj R Sunku, the third generation entrepreneur of Parimal Mandir in an interaction with Sugandha India said that there are endless new producers in this industry, but what makes Parimal Mandir stand out is that it uses very high quality, sustainably procured raw materials which differentiates their product. Through extensive research and development, we continuously deliver the best products, but the company does not believe in the rat race of number 1 and 2. Our only goal is to satisfy our consumers and distributors with the best quality. In fact, at times I even personally attend the customer calls to understand what they demand, their complaints and suggestions so that the products can be improved and customers are satisfied, keeping in mind our founder’s philosophy, which was to provide consumer satisfaction and quality products. That’s why Parimal Mandir is an extremely consumer centric company. Our entire emphasis is on consumer preferences and demands and we ensure that each and every product of ours is as per consumer’s liking, as ultimately the consumer is the king.
He said that the company does not think much about what is trending. The company sees the customer demand and the the gap in the market. We develop products that are above the expectations of the consumer. We have a world class research and development team in Bangalore with a library of over 1000 types of fragrances. We have a dedicated marketing team, numerous distributors and partners. Mr. Swaraj enjoys visits to retail markets from time to time to gain an understanding of the decision making process of the consumer and what drives them to choose a product. Based on these interactions, he educates his R&D team and on that basis new brands are created.
In response to a question from Sugandh India, he said that the demand for incense sticks has increased multifold in the past decade, not only in India but across the world. The main reason for this is that people across the globe have realized that as compared to other fragrance products, burning incenses is the most economical and effective method to make any space fragrant.
In response to another question, he said that today agarbattis are being produced on a large scale and economies of scale directly impact bottom-line profits. Today, the challenge is not to create a brand, but to achieve a Product-market fit. On the question related to the products of Parimal Mandir, he said The Company specializes in offering regionally inspired products from the very beginning. Like in 1983, the brand Shantiniketan was launched. It was developed for the customers in West Bengal. The brand was created, taking inspiration from the teachings of Sri. Rabindranath Tagore, and the packaging depicts his school of thought. The fragrance is based on floral and chypre fragrance and was manufactured keeping in mind the preferences of the people and the climate of West Bengal and even today Shantiniketan is one of the most popular brand in the state. Likewise, Bharat Vasi was launched in 1992 and proved to be a nationally successful brand. It is our fastest and best selling product. Similarly, Gurudev and Moments are also commercially successful brands from the house of Parimal, across the country. If you look at the industry leading brands in the past 5 decades, there are only a handful of brands that have stood the test of time. We are proud that the above brands from Parimal have been around since 4 decades, and yet their consumer base keeps on growing, year on year. The company has recently launched Shubh Labh Pooja Agarbatti, which is a high quality, well priced brand and has become widely accepted by the patrons. He said that unlike the domestic market, the products made for international markets are very different. It is mainly because of difference in culture and preference of fragrance. We have a wide range of products for export markets.
The Government of India, Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts has recently awarded Parimal Mandir as the Outstanding exporter – Excellent Export Growth, for the third year in a row. On the question regarding which and what kind of new products the company making, he said that apart from incense sticks, Parimal mandir is making Oudh and Bakhoor for the Middle East, African and European markets. The company is also aggressively moving forward in roll on products. Apart from this, the company also offers many fragrance products such as Reed Diffuser, Perfumes, Natural Attar, Scented Candles, Room Fresheners, Car Fresheners and Niche Perfumes.
Recently, the company has launched India’s first niche perfume brand with the name Elixir Niche Perfumery, which offers superior quality perfumes with masterfully blended rare essences. What makes Eliixir special is the art of customization. From the customized name on the bottle and packaging to the fragrance of their choice, each patron’s Elixir experience is personalized.
Parimal Mandir is now a global brand. There are 7 units in and around Bangalore, with 2500 employees directly associated with the company and about 3000 people indirectly associated. At present our manufacturing is in 6,00,000 Sq. ft. area and in the next 5 years, we plan to add 4,00,000 sq. ft. to it Along with manufacturing agarbatti and perfumes, we also have an in house design studio and printing and packaging unit. Our production has grown by 25-30 per cent over the years by investing in infrastructure. The company is always in the forefront of investing into advancing our technology and infrastructure, and staying a step ahead of the competition.
On inflation and rising raw material prices, he said the company deals with it through an aggressive supply chain. We make our own perfumes for all our products and have year-round contracts with our raw material suppliers. We have our own design, printing and packaging unit. In this way we are able to manage the price and quality of the products. On the steps taken by the government, he said that all these steps are beneficial and companies like Parimal Mandir have benefited from it.
Mr. Swaraj concludes by saying –R&D never stops at Parimal. Innovation is the journey, not the destination.
