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How Patanjali outsmarted older rivals to become India’s No.2 FMCG firm

By Jyotindra Dubey

  • 05 May 2017
How Patanjali outsmarted older rivals to become India’s No.2 FMCG firm
Credit: Shah Junaid/VCCircle

Patanjali Ayurved Ltd, the fast-moving consumer goods company endorsed by Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, has overtaken several older and more experienced rivals in the year through March 2017.

The company reported revenue of Rs 9,346 crore from its FMCG business for 2016-17, it said on Thursday. Total group revenue including sales from Divya Pharmacy, the Ayurveda medicine division, touched Rs 10,561 crore.

This makes Patanjali, which was set up in 2006, the country’s second-largest FMCG company and the third-largest by FMCG business.

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Hindustan Unilever Ltd and ITC Ltd are now the only two FMCG players ahead of Patanjali.

In the process, Patanjali has surpassed the FMCG businesses of companies including Godrej, which first launched a soap in 1918, and Nestle India, the local unit of the Swiss giant that set up its first India factory in 1961.

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Patanjali’s revenue doubled from Rs 4,807 crore in 2015-16, according to its filings to the Registrar of Companies. Revenue has surged 20 times, from Rs 453.4 crore, in 2011-12.

However, the company did not provide any information on profits.

Patanjali’s largest-selling product is desi ghee, which contributes 14% of its revenue. Toothpaste brand Dant Kanti (9%) and hair oil brand Kesh Kanti (8%) are the other top-selling products.

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The company said it has around 15% market share in the shampoo and face wash market and around 14% in toothpaste. “We have about 50% market share in honey and we have no competition in cow's ghee category. We are also the leader in raw ghani mustard oil and second-largest player in flour,” it said in a press release.

Patanjali now plans to enter the restaurant business and textile in the coming year. Distribution and supply chain is another focus area for Patanjali.

“We have 6,000 distributors and we have a target to increase it to 12,000 in FY18,” it added.

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