Skilled labour crisis in hand-rolled agarbatti: Wasiq Ahmed
Misbah giving quality products at reasonable prices by keeping thin margins on premium products.
The biggest challenge in the agarbatti industry is the production of hand-made masala and flora agarbattis. The main shortage is of labour. The agarbatti industry is nearly mechanised. However, hand-made masala and flora agarbattis are considered much better as machines do not give the required finish. Hand-rolled agarbatti is the USP of Misbah, a Bangalore based brand known for super-quality incense products. Speaking to Sugandh India, Wasiq Ahmed, owner of Misbah Fragrances, said that the shortage of skilled labour is a deterrent to the growth of the industry today. Replying to a question, he said Misbah isn’t able to supply against market demand. However, the company’s research and development team has done extensive research to produce hand-made quality with machines. The quality gap in handmade and by machines is currentlyaround 30%, but as per our RND, in future we will beable to reduce this gap to 5-10%.
Speaking to Suganda India, Wasik Ahmed said that the incense business is his family’s legacy. His grandfather owned two businesses; Anamika Agarbatti and Galaxy Products. My father used to work with him. Later in 1992-1993, he started his own company Misbah Agarbatti works: in his sister’s name. Initially, he sold loose, base and darbar agarbatti. He didn’t have his own brand. After returning from Hajj in 1996, and after much deliberation, he founded the Misbah Fragrances in 1998. In August 2007, after finishing my studies in perfumery, I joined my father’s company. In 2012, my brother Siddique Ahmed also studied perfumery and also entered the industry. This makes our third generation in the Agarbatti industry.
Replying to a question, Wasiq Ahmed said, “I came into the business with the thought that I’ll support my father. He started this business from scratch. He toiled night and day to see his business grow. He expected his sons (I’m one of them) to scale new heights in our field. He still is very active in supervising operations. Each one of us has a designated responsibility.” Talking further, he said “, When I joined, the Misbah brand was already established. Our products were doing very well in Maharashtra. Shivani is the most successful product in Maharashtra even today.” He said that Misbah’s products began with Flora Agarbatti, which was a hot cake brand at that time. It is still the best even today. In ancient times, Halmadi, Silarus and special perfumes were used in Flora Agarbatti. Flora is still the most popular in the European market. In India, the demand is less.
Speaking to Sugandh India, he said that the USP of the Misbah brand is the hand-rolled agarbatti. It is popular for its superior quality and regional value. Branding is all about customer satisfaction, he said. The company maintains quality in both economy and premium segments and we keep our margins equal in both ranges. That’s why our premium products are reasonable. Misbah started in the economy segment and five per cent of our products were premium. By 2015, the company started enhancing the volume of premium quality products. Today, 70% of manufacturing is premium. He said that our principal market is Mumbai for premium followed by A+ and A1 cities. Informing Sugandh India he said, “95% of the masala (spice mix) is made by agarbatti machines whereas; ours are all handmade.” The company also supplies loose incense sticks to other companies, he said.
Talking about the challenges faced by the manufacturers, he said “, irrespective of soaring prices of raw materials, our production is maintained without a glitch. The secret is, we keep our margins thin. We don’t compromise on quality either! When the prices go up, we procure alternate ingredients, right from the source. This keeps our quality standards safe and customers happy.” He informed Sugandh India that, as a matter of policy, the company does not introduce new products indiscriminately. We have our way of doing things. After Flora and Base Agarbatti; we are researching in innovating our fragrances. He said, “We keep away from the habit of launching new products every year rather; we launch one or two products. This allows us to focus more on our originality. To bring a new product, we first distribute it unbranded in the market and study various feedbacks we receive. The testing phase is eight months.” Around ten such test products are worked upon in a season. The most accepted, two or three are scheduled for launch in the coming year, said Wasiq Ahmed.
The company introduces new products according to market needs. We started with Scented Flora and Masala Agarbatti then, we introduced traditional wet dhoop. The company noticed a high demand for traditional wet dhoop in the premium segment. Bengaluru produces the best dhoop in the country whereas; North India, despite producing in tons, lacks quality. The reason is heavy demand resulting in the usage of synthetic perfumes in dhoop and agarbatti. Very few know about how dhoop and agarbatti are made traditionally with natural ingredients and spices. Although some know about these secrets in the North… Identifying genuine raw materials is necessary. In response to a question, he said that customers in general cannot afford premium dhoop or agarbatti. With cut-throat competition, manufacturers are adulterating quality. Mr Ahmed remarked “, Customers prefer dry dhoop sticks over traditional wet dhoop. Traditional dhoop produces a lot of smoke and is less fragrant. Our masala dhoop is just the opposite.”
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu generate the bulk of revenue for the company. UP and MP plus some other states support in generating additional revenue. Mr Ahmed, being soulful remarked “, Wish we could meet demands for all customers PAN-India. We can’t, due to some technicalities. Moreover, we aren’t overtly marketing our products. I’m sure, first-time customers cannot ignore our brand once they use it.” Talking further he deplored those companies that are high & mighty in publicity but lack quality and originality. He said, “Publicity can sell your product once: Not all the time.” Informing Sugandh India, Mr Ahmed said, ” Preparations are complete for mass-producing masala flora agarbatti using our custom-made machine.”
Sugandh India wanted to know about the future of this industry. Mr Ahmed said “, People earlier thought that the agarbatti industry would survive for at most a decade. It’s funny! I’ve been listening to this for the last 40 years! This industry will more than just survive. It’ll boom, despite soaring prices of raw materials fuelled by its heavy shortage. I keep alternates for every raw material; be it spices, natural ingredients or anything. I don’t procure such essentials from middlemen.” He said that trends in new-age fragrances come and go. There are always enough markets for traditional fragrances to retail. Mr Ahmed claims that their sambrani cup is the best. It is produced in Tamil Nadu. The climatic condition of this region is ideal for making sambrani. The company retails sambrani in limited editions. Customers love it. We sell the entire lot in one go.
