Business: Will Patanjali Survive? Some Successful Patanjali FMCG Products

A few years ago, Patanjali was considered as a giant-killer. Its array of products threatened the domination of so many foreign brands which had built their reputation over decades. Patanjali not only challenged them, it challenged them in a manner which scared them to their bones. Patanjali clearly targeted the foreign brands as “foreign” and positioned itself as the best “Indian” brand that was supposed to be there fighting the foreign dominance in the FMCG sector. But Patanjali’s selling point was not only about being “hard code Indian” – its products are natural or herbal which is craze all over the world; are healthier option and are cheaper too! Hence Patanjali generates the following sentiments:

1.      Patriotism in buying Indian brands

2.      Natural or Herbal products

3.      Healthier, e.g. uses aata instead of maida

4.      More economical 

This combination was lethal. Patanjali was supposed to dominate Indian market in a matter of last 2 years. But, it did not happen!  Patanjali's Annual Sales figures tell the story:

·        Year 2016: Rs 5000 Crores

·        Year 2017: Rs 10000 Crores

·        Year 2018: Rs 8135 Crores

·        First 9 months of Year 2019: Rs 4701 Crores

Foreign brands woke up and strongly countered Patanjali. On one hand, they themselves launched natural and herbal products. Secondly they launched more ads, took more celebrities and spent more money on promotion (which Patanjali did not do). At the same time some malicious rumors were spread among people that Patanjali products were not good and failing the quality tests (which was never proved). Hence the foreign brands were able to contain the rocketing sales of Patanjali! 

We see that the foreign brands used below tactics: 

1.      Launch competitive natural or herbal products

2.      Taking in Indian celebrities as brand ambassadors

3.      Increasing spending on marketing and promotions

4.      Spreading rumors against Patanjali 

The question is: will the foreign companies’ strategies work in the long run? I have my doubts because of following reasons:

1.      The core competencies of foreign companies is not Ayurveda

2.      The natural variants of brands are ‘cannibalizing’ their core brands

3.      Clutter of natural vs chemical products will confuse their core consumers

4.      If they continue this path, they will increasingly disconnect their global image

5.      People will ultimately switch to “hard code Ayurveda” companies

Due to above reasons, I think the foreign companies strategy is more of a tactic to stop and choke Patanjali in the short term, rather than being a long term strategy. 

Now, what is Patanjali’s response and will Patanjali really be Stopped? 

I think Patanjali will not be stopped since the foundations on which its branding is done, are too strong. There always be consumer trust in “Indian Ayurveda” as compared to the foreign companies making pseudo-Ayurvedic products. There is an upward trend in patriotic flavors currently which is expected to continue. And Indians will always distrust chemical based products; the increasing health hazards that we see will only add to their sentiments. 

What is interesting to be seen is, how Patanjali sustains in the next 2-3 years. By that time, the fate of the war would have been decided. 

At this note, I present to you some of the successful Patanjali brands from the FMCG space: 

Patanjali Aata Noodles – Healthier and only Rs 10!

Patanjali Coconut #Biscuits - kids favourite and coconut delight! 0 Maida and 0 Trans fats. 

Patanjali Dalia - healthy and delicious! 

Patanjali Poja (Chura) – good quality at low price!

Patanjali Namkin Biscuits – Zero Trans-fats and only Rs 5! 

Patanjali Agarbatti (incense sticks)

- Rahul Tiwary