Journey from FMCG Trading to Establishing Utsav Brand
Utsav Fragrances is one of the leading incense brands from Rajkot (Gujarat). The company that was initially known as Bataviya Sales Agency was started by Mr. Kirankumar Bataviya and was solely into FMCG distribution. As an agency house dealing with numerous brands, Bataviya Sales Agency became a center for others to learn tricks of trade.Mr. Bataviya along with his son Mr. Pratik Bataviya carried their vastdistribution experience into incense sticks distribution and further into “Utsav” brand. A premium incense brand with majority of products selling positively for over a decade.Mr. Pratik Bataviya along with his father, in an exclusive one-to-one with Sugandh India, share the journey from being an FMCG distributor to building their own brand Utsav.
Mr Kirankumar Bataviya, speaking about his initial days informed that they came to Rajkot in 1988 and started FMCG distribution under Bataviya Sales Agency. They had dealings in numerous leading FMCG brands and products like Wipro, Marico, Windsor biscuits, Novino, Park Avenue and many more.Bataviya Sales Agency came under top 10 distributors in Rajkot and everyone wanted to know the tricks of trade from them.It was in 2000that theyhad to put trading of FMCG goods on hold due to business conditions like advance payment, less margin and dumping policy. Meanwhile,asuper distributor of Ganga Products, Savitri Sugandhalaya and Ashoka Trading Co. who had state distribution rights for the brand approached them for Rajkot market. Incense industryprovided margin than FMCG products and also there is credit system instead of advance payment.This motivated them tostep into theincense sticktrading.
Gradually they acquired distribution rights for Rajkot city of around 40 major brands like; Cycle, Zed Black, Padmini, BIC, Moksha, Satya,Apranji, Nandi, Balaji, Amrutha, Amber Aromaticsetc. Needless to say, (Pratik’s father) having a vast trading experience in FMCG sectormade the job easier. Spending decades with top FMCG companies gave him much-needed leverage in the incense stick business also they were among rare FMCG distributors who got success in Incense Sticks business. He used his thoroughbred sales team to capitalize on the incense market. He added more than two dozen companies to his kitty; increasing both the turnover and margins. In 2009, they started their own brand with the name“Utsav”.As modernization hit the incense stick industry, these companies also started functioning like FMCG companies providing less margins and more work pressure. Due to this,in 2013 Mr.Bataviyastopped the trading and distribution all together and focused on their own brand “Utsav”.
Informing more on the initial days of Utsav, Mr. Bataviyasaid that the products they initially launched under their brand Utsav are still running well. To this Pratik added, “We focused on providing better than what was available in the market. Utsav incense sticks are different and that is how 80 percent of our products have been in market for over a decade. We focus on quality which is why our products come in lesser weight quantity than the market.”
Sharing an incident about their out of the box marketing strategies, Pratik said, “We had agency of over 40 companies and it was not possible for a salesman to carry samples or brochures of all the companies. So, we came up with an idea where we got all the products of different companies that we dealt with, photographed and made a single album of it.So that we could show all our portfolio without spreading samples over retail outlet.
Sharing about his portfolio,Pratik said, “We have all kind of products that come under Pooja items. FromIncense sticks, Masala Incense stick, Dry dhoop sticks, Wet Dhoop sticks and Sambrani Cups. Everything is produced in-house” He added,“We have around 60-70 type of fragrances in incense sticks and most of our products are present in every price segment from Rs. 10 to Rs. 200 a packet.” Further informing about his productionfacility, he said, “We have a state-of-the-art facility where we make most of the things in-house. We directly procure raw materials from its best available resources. Our unit is divided into 2 buildings, one for semi-finished goods and other for finished goods.”Informing further about the production unit, he said, “We have a capacity of making 6 million incense sticks a day and currently we are producing 2 million sticks a day.”
Speaking on the challenges he faces as a manufacturer, he said,“There are numerous govt compliances like Factories Act, Provident Fund, ESI, Labor, Pollution Control, Apprenticeship and many more. Considering that this is a small-scale industry,these compliances shouldn’t be there.”Speaking further he remarked,“Industry and social mindset towards our incense stick industry are not quiteencouraging. We are considered small and insignificant (when compared with other industries.).”Talking about marketing challenges he said, “Marketing expenses have gone up and profit margins have slimmed.” Adding further, he said, “The credit system in the market has become worse but for the raw material we buy and the logistic facilities, we have to pay in advance and.” Adding to his woes he said that the shortage of trained workmen and labour makes things complicated. Automation of industry has reduced the need for manual labour for good but there is also a shortage of skilled labour to run these machines.”
Sharing his network, Pratik said, “Our incense products are supplied from 350 distribution centers pan-India. Despite logistic issues and soaring transportation costs, the company supplies its incense to 15 states.Maharashtra is our second largest market after Gujarat.” We are alsolooking forward to cater online market by offering our best qualities through several Marketplace as well as our own E-commerce platform.
Speaking of exports, he said, “Their major markets are Europe and Africa. African customers prefer highly cheap products. The bulk of the premium goes to Europe. Though the packaging trend for exports is mostly Hexagon but we are seeing a change where other forms of packaging like zippers are also making their way into export markets.”
Informing about his future expansions, Mr. Bataviya said, “Air Fresheners, Perfumes, Camphor and Handkerchief perfumes are next-in-line that Utsav is planning to introduce.”
