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Case Study
Case Study
on growth path
Sonia Mehrotra, Uday Salunkhe and Ishani Chakraborty
Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. has, in a short span of less than a decade, recorded a turnover higher Sonia Mehrotra is Associate
than what several companies have managed to achieve over several decades. There is no Professor at Center of
doubt that Patanjali is a disruptive force in the FMCG space and is a credible threat for the Excellence for Case
incumbents (The Hindu, 2016a) (India Infoline Limited (IIFL), February 16, 2016). Development, Prin. L.N.
Welingkar Institute of
On 20 May 2016, the Management team of Patanjali Ayurved Limited (PAL) had assembled Management Development
in their Haridwar office, India, to discuss their future growth plans. The team was in a and Research, Bangalore,
celebratory mood, as their internal reports suggested the annual revenue forecasts for the India. Uday Salunkhe is
year 2016-2017 to be INR 10bn, an increase of 100 per cent as compared to the previous Group Director at
Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute
fiscal year 2015-2016 that recorded annual revenues of INR 5bn (The Times Group, 2016).
of Management
PAL – a company incorporated and co-founded by Acharya[1] Balkrishna (hereafter
Development and
referred as Balkrishna) in 2006, operated in four business segments of foods (foods,
Research, Mumbai, India.
supplements, digestives, dairy, juices, etc.), personal care (cosmetics, shampoo, soaps, Ishani Chakraborty is
facewash), home care (detergent cakes, powder, liquid, etc.) and Ayurved products Research Associate at the
(healthcare products for blood pressure, skin diseases, joint pain, etc.). The products were Center of Excellence for
marketed under the brand name of Patanjali. Swami[2] Ramdev (hereafter referred as Case Development, Prin.
Ramdev), a popular yoga[3] practitioner and preacher amongst the Indian masses, was L.N. Welingkar Institute of
PAL’s co-founder and their chief brand ambassador. Ramdev used his yoga sessions and Management Development
television talk shows to promote the brand “Patanjali”. The company’s brand and Research, Bangalore,
communications strategy focused on health and wellness lifestyle, emphasized on the India.
benefits of the natural products and capitalized on the nationalist pride by branding their
products as Swadeshi (made in India) and indigenously manufactured. PAL’s fast-paced
growth in less than a decade had generated a disruption in the Indian FMCG sector,
resulting in a negative impact on the sales of established multinational corporations (MNCs)
such as Colgate-Palmolive, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), ITC Limited (ITC), besides
domestic players such as Dabur India Ltd. and Emami Ltd. This had led their FMCG
competitors to launch plans to strengthen their product portfolios so as to provide a tough
competition to PAL. The management team at PAL, although confident of achieving their
This case study is published
annual revenue targets, were apprehensive of this new competition from the big players of in partnership with Prin. L.N.
the FMCG sector. Were they capable of continuing their success story? Going forward, Welingkar Institute of
Management Development
what strategic steps would ensure them a sustainable growth and a market leader position? and Research, India
The mood turned reflective as the team pondered on some of these questions. (www.welingkar.org).
DOI 10.1108/EEMCS-07-2016-0159 VOL. 7 NO. 2 2017, pp. 1-35, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2045-0621 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 1
ingredients had become popular among the local population and were in great demand.
The popularity of their medicines led them to the idea of expanding this as a business.
Because Divya pharmacy was registered under a trust, a for-profit off-shoot entity from the
pharmacy was not an option. At the same time Ramdev was also gaining popularity as a
“yoga-guru” and was often seen on various Indian television channels such as Sanskar,
Aastha etc., promoting Indian yoga. Ramdev’s rising popularity and recognition of his field
of work both by non-resident Indians and Indians further contributed to the demand of
Divya pharmacy medicines. This led Balkrishna to conceive the idea of incorporating a
for-profit company that could manufacture and market Ayurveda products. The bank loans
provided for the initial seed capital and thus was incorporated Patanjali Ayurved Limited
(PAL) in 2006 (Business Today, 2016a). Balkrishna and Ramdev were the co-founders of
PAL, but 93 per cent of company shares were held by Balkrishna and the rest by an NRI
couple Poddars and others (refer Exhibit 1). The manufacturing unit of PAL was located
near Haridwar, Uttarakhand, in Northern India.
Human resources
PAL employees are dedicated and take pride in their work. The top management and many
key employees did not take any salary. Abneesh Roy, the Associate Director at Edelweiss
Securities[8], mentioned that most of the employees at PAL consider their work as social
service and hence the company’s expense towards employees’ was quite low (Outlook
India, 2016). They willingly put in extra working hours. and the company exhaled an
atmosphere of spirituality and purpose. In the recent past, many executives from different
established FMCG sector companies joined PAL. Most professionals found the idea to work
and develop a “brand with a purpose” exciting. For example, Sharad Bharadwaj – the
Western zone manager at Patanjali – was an ex-P&G executive who liked a few things about
PAL such as the “Swadeshi” model of the company, the possibility of growth with the
growth of the brand and the fact that they treated the middle-level and junior-level
employees with respect. Similar sentiments were echoed by another professional Pratima
Kumari – the marketing manager at PAL who was a previous DDB Madura employee.
Rajesh Sharma, their senior manager in sales and marketing, was yet another example with
14 years of previous work experience in companies such as Revlon and JL Morrison
(Outlook India, 2016). The employees dressed in either white shirt and trousers or white
kurta-pyjama (Indian attire). The visitors that met Balkrishna received a saffron-wrapped
bouquet consisting of Patanjali products, Ayurveda books and Patanjali product catalogue
that detailed products’ benefits and treatment of common ailments (Business Today,
2016b).
Although the present employee compensation is less as compared to other FMCG majors,
the employees are satisfied, as they believed they are contributing to a purpose in society.
PAL plans to further recruit professionals at various levels in the organization (Business
Today, 2016b).
Ramdev in controversies
Ramdev was never devoid of controversies. In 2012, there were indications of his affinity
towards politics (The Economic Times, 2016h). Further, in 2013, Uttarakhand Government
filed 81 cases against his Patanjali Yog Peeth – a 20-acre facility started by him in
Uttrakhand for serving ailing patients and to facilitate Ayurveda research work. The
New competition
PAL’s market success riding on Ramdev’s popularity had inspired other spiritual sect
heads to join the bandwagon and engage in such market activities. For example, Sri Sri
Ravi Shankar of “Art of Living” fame that sold Ayurved and herbal products from its Sri Sri
Ayurveda Trust had ramped up its market activities. Their intent was to increase their
franchisee stores from 600 to 2,500 in 2016. They were also in talks with companies such
as Future Group for a tie-up to sell their products (Business-Standard, 2016g). Other
spiritual leaders such as Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of “Isha Arogya”, Baba Ram Rahim
Singh of Dera Sacha Suada with its “MSG” brand, etc. were all focusing on growing their
product portfolios and compete in the market. This was new competition for Patanjali from
domestic camps other than the MNCs.
Distribution woes
Balkrishna himself admitted that there was a huge gap between Patanjali distribution
muscle (The Economic Times, 2016j). Vijay Udasi, Senior VP of Nielsen India, said,
“traditional trade as in the universe of Kirana stores (local grocery store) still constitutes 90
per cent of Indian FMCG business the supply and demand”. PAL was way behind their
competitors, as far as penetration in the Indian traditional mode of trade was concerned
(refer Exhibit 10). The Nielsen report (Udasi et al., 2015) suggested “availability of the
products is the single largest driver of FMCG sales and its shopper research suggests that
consumers shift preference if their favourite brand is not available at the store”. The kirana
stores were not very keen to stock the Patanjali products, as the margins provided by the
company to the retailers was only 5-6 per cent as compared to higher margins provided by
some of the established FMCG players such as HUL, Nestle, Dabur etc. Gaurav Kanodia,
a distributor of Patanjali, stated that the demand of the products is high but there is
shortage of products; “I get queries from retailers but if I start supplying and then stop
Thus, PAL had to work towards making their distribution network stronger to sustain and
fulfil the market demand.
Way forward
In February 2016, PAL manufactured 444 products, of which 45 were cosmetic and 30 were
food product categories (India TV News, 2016). The company’s reach to its urban and rural
markets was by way of its franchisee network comprising 3,044 Patanjali Arogya Kendras
and 1,266 Patanjali Chikitsalayas (Divya Yoga, 2015a, 2015b) besides selling products
through retail chains such as Future Group and Reliance Retail. In addition to this, PAL had
also started exporting to overseas markets such as USA, UK, Canada and Mauritius (The
Hindu, 2016d). Supporting this phenomenal growth, the company was planning to launch
two more food parks in the states of Madhya Pradesh (The Economic Times, 2016l) and
Punjab (The Economic Times, 2016m).
Over years, they engaged in big-ticket promotional activities as well. The Broadcast
Audience Research Council (BARC) India[13] report of November 2015 showed Patanjali
to be the third most advertised (12,969 times) brand on television. Reports suggested
company setting aside INR 3bn as their advertisement budgets. Some industry experts
were positive of PAL growth trajectory, whilst there were others who were sceptical of their
growth sustainability in future. Madhukar Kamath, Chief Executive and Managing Director
of Mudra said, “They have a great product, a modern manufacturing process, a wide
distribution network and a large number of loyal followers, who are also users of the brand.
What more would you want from an FMCG company?” (Business-Standard, 2016e). Harish
Bijoor said, “PAL has all the components or right branding and communication strategy to
become the ‘MNC killer’ in future” (The Economic Times, 2016n). Deeraj Sinha, Chief
Strategy Officer, Leo Burnett, said, “Baba Ramdev and his Patanjali brand has had a
fantastic launch platform, but in India, having a good launch doesn’t ensure a profitable
and long run. I would be wary of quality monitoring and there has to be a plan for how you
will differentiate the product” (BBC, 2016). On the other hand, Vibhav Dhawan, Managing
Partner at Positive Moves Consulting opined that PAL was devoid of top-grade talents from
premier institutions who looked for sustainable career growth (The Economic Times,
2016o). Whether PAL would face paucity of effective leadership was a concern for the
future.
Keywords:
Competitive strategy, The industry experts may have their individual different opinions; but, it was for PAL
Strategy, Management to be prudent in strategizing PAL’s next steps to capture a market leader
Product differentiation position in time to come.
Notes
1. The term Acharya is used to denote an influential mentor. Acharya Balkrishna is an ardent follower
and aide of Swami Ramdev.
2. In India, “Swami” is a revered title and connotes a saint or religious leader.
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Figure E1
Acharya Balkrishna
Sarwan Poddar
Figure E2
Table EI
Market capitalization as
Revenue (2014-2015) INR on October 2015 INR
Company name in billion in billion
Figure E3
Figure E4
Figure E5
Figure E6
Exhibit 8
Demand-related drivers
Increasing consumer prosperity. Evolving middle class, exponential growth in GDP per
capita and urbanization consumer sector growth have a high correlation with strong
economic growth. The recent example of this in the Indian landscape was the
implementation of Seventh Pay Commission that resulted in salary hike of government
employees and pensioners by 23.55 per cent, and was executed from January 1, 2016.
Further, with the country’s strong economic prospects, both the rich and middle-class
consumer will also prosper. This is a positive sign for the FMCG industry that is likely to
benefit from the growing prosperity of the consumer.
Increasing urbanization. With rising urbanization, the FMCG companies can now look for a
consumer base beyond the metro cities, and their focus is now on tier-I and tier-II cities.
This provides the FMCG companies with a larger consumer base to target to.
Changing lifestyle. Lifestyle and premium-range products are the new target product
segment among Indian FMCG players. For example, the market acceptance of men’s
fairness creams or people opting for aloe vera juices for health benefits demonstrates an
opportunity for companies to offer new products.
Consumer Store experience. The Indian consumer had also changed in terms of buying
experiences; they wanted to shop in modern and spaciously laid out stores, with ample
parking spaces. Advice from sales associates with a deep knowledge of the product
enhanced the selling proposition of the product; consumers also valued other added
advantages of self-service check-out facilities; ability to check for stock in other stores if not
available in one; and other digitally enhanced in-store experiences.
Growing size and influence of social networks. Consumers good or bad experiences went
viral in no time, and consumers were connecting with people for feedback had becomes
very easy. This empowered the consumers to make better and informed choices and reject
the bad ones. For business, this could either propel or dispel their propositions very
quickly.
Market-related drivers
Increased competition. Realizing the potential of the consumers, the FMCG companies are
at their best to attract new customers as well retain their existing customers with all kinds
of promotional activities to win over customers. This severe competition allows the
customer a huge array of options before making a purchasing decision.
Accessibility. Most leading FMCG players, realizing the increasing purchasing power of the
rural consumer, has expanded their distribution channels in the interiors of the country. This
provides accessibility to the rural consumer as well a competitive field for the FMCG
players.
Retail expansion. The massive retail expansion in India in the past five years has
resulted in FMCG companies expanding their production base and vying for shelf
Low labour cost. The low cost of labour, almost one-sixth of that available in the USA and
UK, makes it attractive for national and international FMCG companies to have their
manufacturing base in India.
Environment-related drivers
Opportunity in personal care product line. India occupies 17 per cent of the world’s
population with 50 per cent of them below the age of 28 years. Compared to this statistic,
the country’ per-capita consumption in most personal care product categories like skin
care, toothpastes, hair wash, shower gels, deodorants, etc. is amongst the lowest in the
world, which provides sufficient scope for all the FMCG companies to tap this unsaturated
market.
Population growth. The rapidly increasing Indian population along with the surge in the
income levels across all strata of the society is one of the prime functions of increased
pattern of consumption in the Indian markets. This will only get better with time, thus
providing the FMCG companies a sustained market potential.
Table EIII
AYURVEDA YOGA HOMOEOPATHY
Ayurveda with its root in the ancient Yoga denoted ‘to join’ or ‘to unite’. Originated Homoeopathy was first started in Europe
Hindu text Atharva Veda, believed in ancient India, recorded in Upanishads and in late-eighteenth century; to the work of
that all living beings comprise five yoga sutras of Patanjali (an ancient sage), it German physician Samuel Hahnemann.
elements of fire, ether, air, earth and was the practice of yoga that led to a state of Diagnosis involved detailed
water. Permutations and higher consciousness. Also known as “soul understanding of the patient dietary and
combinations of these five key therapy”, the Yoga practitioners claimed that other habits to provide for medicines
elements form three types of body it could cure diseases. A Harvard study
fluids in human body that need to (Bloomberg, 2016) indicated its positive
maintain balance between them- effects curing stress
selves. Any type of imbalance is
believed to result in a disease
UNANI SIDDHA NATUROPATHY
This was introduced in India by Siddha originated in Tamil Nadu, a Southern Naturopathy included a range of
Arabs and Persians in the 12th Indian State through the work of Siddhars or alternative treatments derived from
century. Unani shared many scientist-saints. Siddha and Ayurveda had natural products. Naturopaths believed
common principles with Ayurveda many common tenets such as belief in body that except for accidents, the cause of
such as belief in the body fluids fluid, elements and imbalance. Drugs used disease in humans is accumulation of
were herb based morbid matter inside the body. Therapies
included special diet, mud packs,
acupuncture, acupressure etc. Prayer
was an important part of the treatment
Source: Compiled by authors from “Questions over science swirl, but AYUSH stands firm”, www.thehindu.com/sunday-anchor/
medicine-wars-homeopathy-allopathy-ayurveda-unani-in-india/article7141754.ece, April 26, 2015 as accessed on May 28, 2016
Figure E10