Agarbathi maker to peddle room freshners

After diversifying from agarbathies to its allied branches like fragrances, personal care products and, natural and essential oils, the Mysore-based N R Group is now targeting customers through retail outlets in the country and abroad.

Within six months of the launch of room and car freshners under Lia, a brand for functional fragrance offerings, the group's subsidiary, Ripple Frangrances Pvt Ltd now sells room freshners like Lia Chandanam and Lia Lavender through 20,000-odd retail outlets and car freshners in 6,000 outlets.

Ripple Managing Director Kiran V Ranga told Business Standard that companies in India imported these categories of fragrances from abroad, mainly China, and claimed, "Our orosal room fresheners are domestic products and unique to the Indian market."

Recently, Ripple launched its concept 'Brand Signature Fragrance' under the IRIS brand. This range of wellness fragrance solutions come in seven categories with 50 stock keeping units. It also introduced personal care products.

In the initial phase, the N R Group launched deodorants and perfumes under the brand name DNA targeting the premium segment and sold at leading A and B category retail outlets in major metros across the country. Incidentally, N R Group is one of the few in India to create and blend their own perfumes in-house.

"We can customise fragrances to the brand signature initiative. Ripple already provides customised products for large retail chains in the US and Europe, particularly for mass merchandisers and retail markets," he said adding home fragrance was their biggest-selling category, apart from agarbathies.

The older sibsidiary Nesso Natural & Essential Oils, produces 35 natural floral and herbal extracts and has turned into the largest manufacturer of tuberose. Floral extracts, botanical extracts for fragrances and flavours, cosmetics and toiletries, and nutraceuticals, and organic extracts are its product range.

Started in 1978, Nesso has established a 60 per cent marketshare in tuberose and 30 per cent in jasmine.

"We are instrumental in introducing natural tuberose extract to the perfumery world, which is used in many international fragrances. We are pioneers and market leaders in floral and botanical extracts," Kiran said speaking on the World Fragrance Day (March 21).

NESSO exports concretes and absolutes of jasmine, tuberose, sambac, champak, rose and other fragrances, and herbals for the pharma industry.

Getting a fillip from this, around 800 farmers are now cultivating flowers like grandiflrum and sambac in T Narasipur, Melkote, both near Mysore and Coimbatore and Madurai in Tamil Nadu on 400 acres.

"We do not buy fragrances. Our strength is in creation of fragrances. We have a clear vision and that is to become market leaders in home fragrance products. We want to be market leaders globally as well," adds Kiran, the third generation member of the N Ranga Rao group.