Over the years there has been a key shift in the role of incense. It has transitioned from merely pleasing God to an all-encompassing role of bringing in positivity to the self and setting the ambience at homes for a soulful prayer. But, Mysore Deep Perfumery House, one of India's leading agarbatti manufacturers popular for its flagship brand Zed Black agarbatti has observed the Covid-19 epidemic, creating a paradigm shift in consumer behaviour not just in the domestic market but a significant shift in global market.
"If we look at the growth projection which was based on customer and market research in a pre-Covid 19 world, both the market landscape and consumer behaviour has altered beyond recognition for various product range. "We found that our aromatherapy variants like Lavender, Fengshui, Aromatherapy, was considered desirable by some consumers in US markets, because of the perception that Lavender has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. Research also suggests that it may be useful for treating anxiety, insomnia, depression, and restlessness. There has been sudden upsurge of Sambrani Dhoop (Loban) as well; as consumers have preferred them as natural fumigating agent", shared Ankit Agrawal, Partner, Mysore Deep Perfumery House.
Mysore Deep Perfumery House is one of India's leading agarbatti manufacturers.The company’s flagship brand Zed Black’ is endorsed by Ace Indian Cricketer M S Dhoni and it is one of the top 3 agarbatti manufacturers in India with a wide range of more than 1200 SKUs and around 15 lac (1.5 million) retail packs sold everyday. The company processes over 3 crore (30 million) incense sticks everyday at its state-of-the-art factory in Indore Madhya Pradesh.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has created a serious and unprecedented situation. It is heartening to see people choosing incense sticks and dhoop to help combat the pandemic. Our stocks that were exported for a period of 6 months consumption have already been sold out contributing to 100% sales growth in the US market. The Indian agarbatti and dhoop industry is the highly export-oriented industry, which provides a high profit. The Indian export of agarbatti and dhoop is increasing every year, which helps in balancing the trade deficit of India" shared Ankit Agrawal, Partner, MDPH
With the prayer filled household atmosphere ingrained in the Indian psyche, the sense of tranquility associated with these incenses is deeply etched in the subconscious of Indians. He further shared "The domestic market has seen a demand in our products like Sambrani Dhoop which uses Benzoin (Loban) in its preparation. Loban is a well known disinfectant and does not have any side effects"
The company has also seen growing demand of Diffuser Oils or Essential Oils. As Ankit Agrawal shares, "The essential oil business has grown significantly over the last decade and hasn’t slowed since the onset of COVID-19. In fact, it seems like more people are turning to these oils for their relaxing, immune-system boosting and disinfecting properties to help cope with the stresses of the pandemic. We have observed increased usage of our Lavender and Bergamote variant for our essential oil brand, Orva on Amazon US as well as in India". Research says, Bergamote essential oil not only helps to support the immune system, but it also helps to fight off illness-causing organisms once they’re in your body.
"This phenomenal aspect has boosted us to upsurge on more untapped markets in the near future. COVID-19 has brought about diversification of products and we soon plan to foray in the market of “Hand Sanitizers” and Puja Samagri". Headquartered in Indore, MP, India with 35 company owned depots across India, the company exports to more than 30 countries with offices in USA & Nepal. With a wide network of more than 3500 authorised distributors across India, the products are available at over 750,000 retail outlets in India. “Today, the company has four manufacturing units in Indore with a cumulative floor space of 6.5 lakh square feet. The third unit we set up, in 2018, is the world’s largest raw agarbatti manufacturing unit and has more than 550 machines. More than 2,500 workers are involved in the manufacturing process across our units, out of which 75 percent are women” Ankit Agrawal says.
The agarbatti market is pegged at Rs 6000 crore with MDPH holding 8-10%.percent share in the domestic market. The agarbatti and dhoop industry is one such golden industry which will have a never ending in India as well as foreign markets. "Though the demand fluctuates in regions according to occasions or festivals, but the demand never goes down from a certain level due to religious beliefs & prayers", he explains. Zed Black has extended its arm to reach out every different product to cover all the demands including agarbattis, dhoopbattis, dhoop cones, dhoop sticks and hawan samagri with established brands like Manthan, Arij, Luxury, Parfum, Rajshree, Panchdeep & Duva and more.
Several Indian incense products manufacturers have been exporting incense to The United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Brazil as well as Argentina among several other countries. In 2018, the United States incense market size was 128 Million USD and is forecast to reach 281 Million USD in 2025, growing at a CAGR of 11.89% from (2018-2025). Going by the current scenario, the incense Market Trend has shown an Increasing Demand for Natural Fragrance Ingredients.
