30% Premium Market in Asansol, Dominated by Bengaluru Brands:Akbar Malik
Asansol is an excellent marketfor agarbatti products. Around70% of customers in the regionspend approximately ₹200 to₹300 per month on agarbattiand dhoop products, whilenearly 30% customers purchaseproducts worth ₹1,000 or more.In an exclusive interaction withSugandh India, Akbar Malik,head of Fresh Agarbatti Tradingand Manufacturing Company,said that the market forpremium and fancy products isalso very strong. This is whypremium brands like AcharyaNandita and Balaji havecustomers who spend ₹5,000 to₹10,000 per month on agarbattiand dhoop. He added thatBengaluru-based agarbatticompanies dominate themarket. Among the top tenselling brands are Balaji, ZedBlack, Shalimar, Cycle, andAcharya Nandita. There are alsomany customers who prefer thebest quality products, and 6 outof 10 customers buy strictly bybrand name.
Akbar Malik’sfamilyhas beenin theagarbattibusinessfor threegenerations.He told Sugandh India thathis grandfather started this work,initially operating under a differentfirm. Later, his father establishedhis own company, and as the businessexpanded further, Akbar Malikfounded Fresh Agarbatti Company.Under this brand, they manufactureagarbatti products, along with tradingand retailing activities. He startedthe Fresh Agarbatti Company in 2018,before the Covid period. His familyhas always been engaged in tradingand retailing. Under the Freshbrand, they manufacture products in₹10, ₹20, ₹30, and ₹50 MRP ranges,supplying them across West Bengal,Bihar, and Jharkhand. They are alsoplanning to expand their supply networkto Odisha soon.
In response to a question, he saidthat his brother manages the retailcounter, while he looks after manufacturingand marketing. Theirbest-performing product is mosquitorepellent agarbatti. In addition,their Sundar Van and Sanskar rangespriced at ₹20 MRP are among thetop-selling products.
Answering another question, he saidthat their trading business has beenrunning for many years. Their firstagency was Manvi Agarbatti from Hyderabad,whose owners are related tothe Maratha Agarbatti group. Later,they also took agencies of Asian andAcharya Nandita. He said that theirsupply network covers West Bengal,Bihar, and Jharkhand. They supplyManvi, Asian, and Acharya productsto selected counters in Bihar andJharkhand, while their Fresh brandreaches more than 50 counters.
Regarding the Asansol market, hesaid that ₹20 packs are the highestselling, and this trend is commonacross West Bengal, Bihar, andJharkhand. At the same time, expensiveand fancy items also have strongdemand. Acharya’s products, beingpremium, sell very well, which is whythey keep 40–50 of their items due tostrong sales.
Akbar Malik further said that Bengaluru-based brands dominate theAsansol market, followed by Gujaratbrands such as Nishan, Dhanlaxmi,and Jaisal from Ahmedabad. He addedthat the dhoop market is growingrapidly, especially the demand fordhuna. Krishna Kala’s dhunachandanand sambrani sticks are popular.In the economy segment, Manthanis number one, followed by Mangaldeepand Balaji.
He also noted that the sambrani cupsegment is expanding, with Cycle’sNaivedya being the top-selling dueto its superior quality. The chandantilak market is relatively small in theregion, but camphor has a strongmarket. Among branded camphor,Cycle and Zed Black have traditionallyperformed well, but demand forBhimseni camphor has been risingrapidly. As more people becomeaware of Bhimseni camphor, they areincreasingly preferring it. Many consumersbelieve that Bhimseni camphoris the purest and most authenticform of camphor.
