Big Safari Is the King of the Market: Samir Bagaddeo

After working in an agarbatti company for 10 years and later becoming a leading trader in the Vidarbha region, Samir Bagaddeo, head of Srinivas Agencies, Nagpur, is today a distributor and super stockist for several companies. Having created a distinct identity in the agarbatti industry, Mr. Bagaddeo, in an exclusive interaction with Sugandh India, said that Big Safari is the king of the market, and behind this success are the hard work, good behavior, and continuous innovation in trade by Mr. Hasmukh Bhai, which has taken the brand to the top.

He said, “I have received 100% support from him. He treats me like his own child, and I consider him my guru and role model. He is a person with avery perfect personality.”

Sharing his journey from being an employee to becoming a trader, Mr. Bagaddeo said that Rocket’s Mehboob Bhai and Kalim Bhai also helped him right from the beginning. Apart from this, he also shares good relations with Mr. Laxmikant of Chandak & Sons. He said that the biggest reason for success in the agarbatti market is that he meets everyone with a smile and works with honesty.

Mr. Samir Bagaddeo told Sugandh India that in 1998 he was working as a sales representative for Padmini Agarbatti Company in Vidarbha. At that time, marketing was not like it is today; everything was done door-todoor. Supplies to Nagpur used to come from the C&F in Mumbai. He said that he worked with Padmini until 2006, after which he decided to start his own business.

Answering a question fromSugandh India, Mr. Bagaddeo said that he already had good marketing experience, and Padmini was a highly respected and large company. Because of working with them, he also built his own identity in the market. His first business opportunity came from Shrinivas Sugandhalaya, Mumbai. Later, Padmini also gave him the Nagpur business.

In the beginning, Mr. Jagdish Shetty of Shrinivas Sugandhalaya extended great support. When Shrinivas Sugandhalaya launched the Milan pouch, it became a super hit and also gave him strong recognition. He said that due to being in the sales team, he was in contact with 20–25 people, and as his work grew, more people kept joining. Today, most Bengaluru-based companies’ distribution is handled by his firm. After that, he got the agency of Big Safari and with Hasmukh Bhai’s support, his business grew further. Later he also took up Rocket’s agencyand Rocket’s Mehboob Bhai and Kalim Bhai supported him fully from the very beginning.

Talking about distribution, he said that the business is divided into multiple ranges. Earlier, the market demanded good-quality products and trustworthy people. Nowadays, everything is connected and easily available. In the initial days, he used to travel frequently to Bengaluru. At that time, it was not easy to find companies. Meetings with owners, marketing officers, or booking agents happened only through references or connections, and only then did business start. Being an employee of Padmini, he already had good market knowledge and people also respected him.

In the beginning, he expanded his work by visiting every counteron a bicycle and built strong market relationships, because of which today most of the business and product bookings happen through mobile phones and WhatsApp.

Mr. Bagaddeo said that he already had good marketing experience, and Padmini was a highly respected and large company. Because of working with them, he also built his own identity in the market. His first business opportunity came from Shrinivas Sugandhalaya, Mumbai. Later, Padmini also gave him the Nagpur business.

Srinivas Agencies currently handles the distribution of around 15–16 companies, including Big Safari, Rocket, Padmini, Shrinivas Sugandhalaya, Bharatwasi, and Denim Dhoop. He is the super stockist for Vidarbha region for Hem Corporation and Labh Ganga camphor. He also handles the entire Vidarbha distribution of Shrinivas Sugandhalaya and manages Big Safari’s distribution in Nagpur city.

In addition, he directly trades with 5–6 branded companies from Bengaluru, including Modern India Trading Company (Dasara International), Ambar Aromatic (Ratnamala), Kashi Agarbatti, AR Industries, NK Industries (Lal Pari), Janak Perfumery, and Zed Black forspecific area. His marketing team includes some staff on payroll and some on commission basis, and the work of all companies is properly divided. In Nagpur city, they supply to nearly 1,000 retail outlets. Besides this, they have one distributor each in districts like Amravati, Kolhapur, Chandrapur, Gondia, Bhandara, and others.

Speaking about the Nagpur market, he said that earlier Bengaluru had a strong dominance here. Now, local manufacturing and the loose market have increased significantly, reducing space for outside brands. However, big and old companies like Big Safari, Bharatwasi, Padmini, and Rocket still have a strong market, while entry for new brands is quite difficult.

He said that the ratio of local brands to loose products is approximately60:40. Earlier, local brands did not perform much, but today in many areas, agarbatti sellers are also manufacturers. People buy raw agarbatti, DEP, and perfume, manufacture on their own, and sell in packets at per-kg rates.

He said that lobanagarbatti is manufactured in large quantities here, but local consumption is low and most of it goes outside, as Nagpur has almost six months of summer, reducing demand. Scented agarbatti sells more in Nagpur. Earlier, black agarbatti was popular, but now ₹50 quarter-kg agarbatti and zipper packs sell more at outlets. Company zipper packs also sell at ₹50, and Bengaluru box packs sell at ₹50–60.

He said that Nagpur is a centralized market where products of all companies are available. Big Safari’s ₹50 zipper pack and ₹10 and ₹50 zipper packs sell the most. Nagpur is a mixedculture market, where products of allranges and qualities are in demand.

Talking about top brands, he said that among Nagpur brands, Big Safari is number one. After that, Rocket’s premium segment box and zipper packs, and the 460 metallic box are leading. Among outside brands, Zed Black, Cycle, Amrutha, Padmini, Ullas, Bharatwasi, and Shalimar have strong demand. Zed Black’s Manthan dhoop holds around 90% market share, and their advertising is also very strong. Earlier, dhoop sold mainly in box packs, but now zipper packs are more popular.

Hem also has a good market. The company has recently launched camphor, pooja oil, and ghee. Hem’s zipper packs of White Batti, Precious, and Velvet are selling well. Demand for dry stick dhoop is increasing, and now around 40% of the market is dhoop and dry sticks, while 60% is agarbatti. The bamboo-less segment is also growing steadily.

He said that in 1998, nobody knew about sambrani cups and only wet dhoop had limited demand. Now, both cup and dry stick dhoop markets are growing rapidly. Here, dry and wet dhoop markets are almost 50–50, as summers last for six months and people prefer dry sticks. Wet dhoop produces more smoke. In wet dhoop, Hari Darshan’s premium products such as Deluxe Dhoop, 4-in-1 Dhoop, and GugalDhoop sell well. BIC’s ₹70 pack and Real’s premium dhoop also perform well.

In sambrani cups, Parimal Mandir’s Mangal Pooja and Cycle’s Naivedya sell well. In chandan, Hari Darshan’s yellow variant sells the most, followed by good demand for red, white, and kesari in paste form. In powder, Manohar’s Ashtagandh and Spiritual has good demand.

In camphor, loose camphor sells more, and the demand for Bhimseni camphor is gradually increasing. Among branded camphor, Mangalam, Maurya, Gayatri, Bappa Morya, and Labh Ganga sell well, but dagdi camphor has higher demand because it is cheaper. While Maurya is priced at ₹660, Labh Ganga is at ₹720. In pooja oil, he sells Hem’s Dev Pooja, while in the market Jyoti, Mangalmay, and Cycle’s Om Shanti are also selling well.