Asansol Market has good demand for Koyas: Manoj Kumar Poddar
In Asansol, West Bengal,agarbatti and dhoop packspriced at ₹20, ₹50, and ₹100MRP are the most popular.Manoj Kumar Poddar, headof Manoj Dhoop Centre,told Sugandh India that thehighest sales are for packs pricedat ₹20. Manoj Dhoop Centre hasbeen trading agarbatti products inAsansol for the past 30 years. Hesaid that earlier, very few agarbatticompanies offered agencies,and the market mainly operatedthrough trading. However, todayalmost all companies provideagencies. He mentioned that hefirst took the agency of Dhanlaxmi,but now the company has openedits own depot. At present, ManojDhoop Centre handles brandssuch as Koyas, Balaji Darshan(Chamundi Agarbatti Works),and Incense India. In addition,products of all popular brands arealso available at their retail counter.
Responding to a question, ManojKumar Poddar said that nearly 90%of the supply is carried out directlyfrom their counter, and peoplefrom Asansol and nearby areaspurchase goods directly. In Asansol,brand sales vary according tolocality and counter. For example,at his outlet, products of Koyasand Balaji Darshan (ChamundiAgarbatti Works) sell the most.Apart from these, brands such asBharat Darshan, Cycle, Zed Black,Shantiniketan, ITC, and Balaji areamong the top-selling in the overallmarket.
Answering another question,he said that the dhoop market isalso growing rapidly. Both wet anddry dhoop are in demand, withmost Hindi-speaking consumerspreferring wet dhoop. He addedthat in wet dhoop, Zed Black’sManthan is the top-selling product,followed by Balaji Darshan,Koyas, and Mangaldeep. Almostall companies are now selling wetdhoop. The market for sambranicups is also increasing and sees asignificant rise during festivals.In sambrani, Cycle’s Naivedya isthe top-selling brand, while Koyassambrani sells more at their outlet.
He further said that, on average,a customer in this region spendsaround ₹500 per month on dhoopand agarbatti products. In tilakand chandan, Drolia products arepopular, while in camphor, BalajiDarshan sells more at their outlet,although Mangalam is the highestsellingbrand across Asansol. Thereis also a strong market for loosecamphor in the region.
