Sugandhi is an Innovative Creation of Neelima Herbs, Bihar : Sambrani Shreeyogi
From Patna to South to Pan India: Sambrani shreeyogi sugandhi
The trend of Sambrani incense sticks and cups is increasing rapidly across the country. Many companies are producing Sambrani from East to West and North to South India. Neelima Private Limited of Patna manufactures Sambrani shreeyogi sugandhi brand dhoop sticks and cups. Mr. Neeraj Kumar, head of Neelima Herbs Private Limited firm, in a special conversation with Sugandh India, claimed that his company was the first in India to launch Sambrani Shreeyogi Sugandhi from Patna and then the same Sambrani was spread from Tamil Nadu throughout South India and later across the country. The company manufactures 4-5 ranges of products in Sambrani itself. He said that we have been working on these products for the last 35 years. The company does not come up with a new range of products every year as there is so much demand for the old products that it is hard to maintain timely supply. Currently, Neelima Private Limited has 3 units producing its brands completely in-house. The company’s Ahmedabad unit is being started in January 2024, from where apart from supplying the shortage in the domestic market, there are also export plans.
According to Mr Neeraj Kumar, Neelima Private Limited was established in 2014, but before that, it was operating under the name of Neelima Kutir Udyog in Patna. He mentioned that the demand for Sambrani products is increasing rapidly, but alot of producers use chemicals and perfumes in their products. People generally purchase raw batti and raw material from the market and dip it in perfume to make their product. In contrast, Neelima’s Sambrani Shreeyogi Sugandhi products are made from natural ingredients and no fragrance is added to them. The aroma comes from the burning of the raw material. Mr Neeraj Kumar also explained that everything from charcoal to raw materials is processed in-house. They extract carbon from charcoal and refine it. This helps their products generate less or no carbon when burned compared to other company products. He added that they source their raw materials from Indonesia and Vietnam. His company has a warehouse there where the raw materials are processed. Farmers bring agricultural products to the warehouse, where they are processed without using any chemicals or DEP, not even joss powder.
In response to a question from Sugandh India, Neeraj Kumar mentioned that Sambrani Shreeyogi Sugandhi is our own creation and research and it went from Patna to Chennai. It is being sold under a variety of brand names throughout the country. However, our yellow packet of Shri Yogi range has been popular in Bihar since 1980 and people still ask for it. In other states, our multicoloured packets are sold.
Neeraj Kumar’s father Late Ram Krishna Singh took his product to South India 35 years ago. It has a history to it. However, as the demand for the product continued to increase in Bihar and North India, the company kept focusing on these markets to meet the demand. Therefore, we did not pay special attention to the southern market. Seeing the product being duplicated, my father, the proprietor of the company, first got the trademark for Shree Yogi Sugandhi in the 1980s and later also got the copyright of Shri Yogi Sugandhi done in the year 2001. The copyright no. being A-58512/2001, which is valid till date.
Shri Neeraj Kumar said that there is a story of the birth of Sambrani Shreeyogi Sugandhi. My father used to regularly visit a civil engineer. He was a Bengali and lived in Babu Bazaar in Patna. He used to add some substance to dry cow dung and burn it every day in his house. It was an eyesore, but it smelled very nice. My father liked it and started developing it. The first challenge was to make the product smoke free. After alot of research and hardwork, my father achieved it. The smoke free product was then mixed with sandalwood powder. Sandalwood powder was cheap back then and this brand took off quickly. People liked it very much. As sandalwood became expensive, an alternative to natural fragrance was prepared. In response to a question, he said that Sambrani Shreeyogi Sugandhi was initially popular in Patna, Puri, Madurai, Mathli and then it gained popularity in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh. Later, Jaivardhan Seth, JK Sugandhalaya in Pune made it number one in the market.
In response to a question, he said that there are challenges in any business, but we do not have the problem of credit because there is so much demand that we are not able to supply it. In such a situation, most distributors buy in cash only. We never had any sales team for marketing. We work only with our distributors because the quality of our products is unique. Therefore, Sambrani Shreeyogi Sugandhi of Patna is the most popular in the market. He said that apart from Sambrani, the company also makes Loban Cup. People like it too. In the Hindu system, prayer is not complete without burning sambrani. THis is why we focus on maintaining the quality of our products. He said that the products of other brands give fragrance only superficially, whereas our products give fragrance only after burning.
He said that Sambrani Sticks and Cups are our two main product lines, which are sold the most in Bihar, Pune, Gujarat, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Delhi. Every now and then we keep updating or bring new changes to these two segments . We have created a jumbo size product in the stick, which burns for 1 hour. Similarly, jumbo size was made in the cup also. Apart from this, we also do job work for some special clients whenever we get time. He said that his father started a factory in a small room. Today it is spread over 70,000 square feet and has in-house production being carried out through three units. A new unit is going to start soon in Ahmedabad. He said that machines cannot produce better Sambrani. Therefore, our Sambrani Sugandhi is manufactured 70% using machines and 30% handmade, both men and women are employed. In response to a question, he said that today there is a need for the industry to make products keeping in mind the health of the consumer. With the rapid increase in demand and production of Sambrani, the ingredients that are to be used should not be harmful to health. Everyone should think seriously on this.
