02 Sep Namoh Indiya, An Emerging Name in the Incense Market
Ms. POOJA GOELA, NAMOH INDIYA
Namoh Indiya is an upcoming incense brand which believes in producing a truly modernized product that is so traditional yet essential to our daily prayers. The brand is manufactured by Prayer Ensemble Pvt Ltd., a Noida-based company managed by Ms.Pooja Goela. She has a vast expertise of 17+ years in making Wet Dhoop. The company also does Contract Manufacturing for various brands like ITC Mangaldeep, Cycle Agarbatties, Camveda to name a few. Speaking exclusively to Sugandh India Pooja said,“ Having worked for a big multinational like ITC for the past 17 years we expertise in the wet dhoop industry. Today ITC is the No.1 dhoop brand in the market. She said that while making dhoop for other companies, “I came with my own share of ideas and designs which I could not implement in the product because as a contract manufacturer you have certain limitations and have to adhere to the product specification provided by the companies. Hence, I decided to create my own brand” Namoh Indiya which was launched in March 2020, which has a wide range of dhoop, agarbatti and allied products. The manufacturing location for dhoop is spread over 1600 square meters with world class infrastructure, in house raw material testing facilities and with a capacity to produce more than 600 metric tonnes of dhoop per month. Her other company M/s.Prayer Dhoop Agarbatti Pvt. Ltd. have been the pioneers in manufacturing wet dhoop since 2005. Due to its excellent quality of raw dhoop, it was awarded with Quality Championship Award by ITC in 2008 and Best Vendor Award year after year.
Namoh Indiya, the brand
The pandemic brought everything to a standstill. The company restarted operations in August 2020 and today its market has grown incredibly and as on date the company manufacturers more than 80 products. These include high quality Dhoop, Agarbatti, Cones, Sticks, Hawan Samagri, Sambrani cups, etc. The company is also the first in North India to produce Flora dhoop. According to Pooja, her and her team with thorough research have been successful in developing the right formulation for flora dhoop. All raw materials like sambrani powder, halmadi, chandan powder, natural herbs and flowers are sourced directly from South India. Namoh Indiya today has become a sought-after name in the incense market. The brand is getting well placed in U.P. Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
The beginning
Pooja is a bachelor of commerce graduate post which she did her interior designing from a reputed organization. It was her Uncle who brought her into the world of fragrance. Immediately after she got an offer to work for the ITC for their dhoop market. She explains “I was learning perfumery with my uncle when ITC operations were offered to us. Our first dhoop factory was set in 2005. ITC provided perfumes that were used in making dhoop along with product packaging. Last year we started similar operations for Cycle Brand. With over 17 years of experience behind me, I often came up with various ideas for products but being a vendor for ITC, we only produced what the company asked us for. This inspired me to start a brand of my own and implement those ideas in it.”
The growing dhoop market
Regarding the growing market of incense, she says that the market of incense is growing steeply. Lot of companies are now producing premium dhoop products. Along with this, incense is no more a product only meant for worship, people have now started using incense for an aromatic atmosphere as well. Recently, during a visit the MD of Cycle, Arjun Ranga discussed the huge growth potentials of the dhoop market in the coming years. The incense industry is currently booming with great growth opportunities.
Challenges faced in the industry
Pooja, sounding a bit dismal said, “Post Covid it is a split-milk situation. The pain point is always the cost-to-price margin which is very very thin. Prices of raw materials have gone up and so is sustenance. Big Brands have sliced their profit margins and dealers always crib for more! It’s a tightrope we have to walk. Most manufacturers play the volume game though this doesn’t give a leeway with premium brands that we sell. Continuing with her statement she added “The agarbatti market is overflowing with plenty of new brands coming up everyday. Happy with cringe profits, they offer lucrative schemes to dealers, distributors and shopkeepers. Starters like us have no options but to provide such schemes as well. If I don’t, my brand won’t sell.” Adding further she said “I have plentiful expertise in manufacturing but not much in marketing. Initially I didn’t give much credence to marketing, but now I have to. Recently the company has entered the digital marketing space also. She said, ”Though we have started gaining loyal customers, it is too early to predict but effort is always there towards the growth of the brand”
The importance of women-empowerment
Pooja asserted,” People talk of women empowerment and as on date on the rolls of the company we have 89% women-folk all uneducated rural women but bread winners for their families”. There are people working with us since the very beginning and the best part is that now even their next generation have joined us.”
The role of attractive packaging
Describing a major shift in the way of packaging she revealed, “Now the face of packaging in the incense industry has changed drastically. Companies have now started focusing on the packaging front as well bringing a huge revolution in the market”.
The growing trend of Dry Sticks
She revealed— Use of dry stick is gradually increasing. The reason is purely religious. ”According to Hindu beliefs, the burning of bamboo is a bad omen. The stick holding agarbatti-mix is made of bamboo. Therefore, in order to avoid burning bamboo people have started using dry sticks instead of agarbattis”. Namoh Indiya has also launched its own brand of dhoop cones and dhoop sticks. This product line is getting a very good market response.
The competition to Namoh Indiya
On asking about competing with the big brands, she was frank with a big No! She said, “It’s a crowded category with big players and with my brand I do not want to compete with the existing brands in the industry. I’m focusing more on the premium range where I can bring quality and a signature style.” She further adds that she wants to give the customer, the best quality at affordable cost. If she herself cannot produce it, she would not hesitate to outsource from the best manufacturers in this trade.
“My trade speciality is third party contract manufacturing. I have a niche for making a beautiful dhoop and I’m doing this for decades now. The vision and mission of my company stands strong as “Committed to Building Brands” concluded Pooja Goela, Managing Director of Prayer Dhoop Agarbatti Pvt. Limited and Prayer Ensemble Pvt Ltd. l
No Comments