Cycle Pure Agarbathies: The True Fragrance of India
Cycle Pure Agarbatti is the largest agarbatti manufacturer and most popular brands in India that held a 15% share in the incense industry in India.
Let us know how this cycle made difference in the incense industry and in our lives!
The Begining: Launched in the year of 1948 by N. Ranga Rao. It was started at home and now has a presence in 75 countries selling around Rs. 1000 Cr of agarbatties a year.
The NR Group founded in 1948 in Mysore, Karnataka as fledgling incense sticks (agarbathi) manufacturing company, grew to be the world’s largest manufacturer of incense sticks and diversified into six other companies, manufacturing related products and electronics.
The Founder: N. Ranga Rao born in 1912, was a man of great courage, vision, foresight and dreamt of building a value driven business. He belonged to Kannada speaking family and hailed from Tamil Nadu. His father was Narayan Acharya, who was a teacher and had died when Mr. Rao was 6 years old.
Mr. Rao married Sita and later shifted to Aravankadu, where he worked as clerk in an cooperative store for employees of Cordite Ammunition factory from 1939 to 1944. Before starting his entrepreneurial journey he changed his job and joined Hunsur Coffee Curing Works. And the he was invited to take charge as manager of cooperative stores of Consolidated Coffee Estates in Pollibetta, Coorg, where he remained as manger till 1948.
He had set-up an shop in Mysore, closest city to Coorg and called it - Mysore Products and General Trading Company (MP>C) wherin he sold the goods brought from Coorg in Mysore and products from Mysore to Coorg. Though he did not had capital on his own to set up the shop but he got Rs. 2000 as the provident fund settlement. Apart from the trading he set-up the manufacturing units of Soap-nut powder (Shikakai) and Incense sticks (Agarbatties).
His oldest son Guru along with his eldest sister helped him in packing the agarbatties. By the end of 1950 his business picked up and he started to visit to the markets to see the agarbatties. He used to visit two markets Hassan and Chickmangaluru, both markets are 60 KM's apart. In the year 1956 he started selling agarbatties packed in rolls of greaseproof paper printed with the brand name and was priced at One Anna (one sixteenth part of Rupee in British days) for 25 sticks.
He believed in building a brand and he choose 'Cycle' as his brand as it would be pronounced and understood as Cycle in all Indian languages.
Agarbatti: Agar is an evergreen tree from which incense sticks are made. Batti means wick. So, the wick made from the agarwood is called agarbatti. Since the Agar tree is found in India’s tropical climate, India is a leading producer of incense sticks.
Did you know? Agar is known as Oud in the Arab world. Interestingly, it is called Oudavati in South India as well.
Agarbatti is a norm in most Indian households. Some people burn them daily, while others reserve them for special occasions. Like camphor, this scent has a way of transporting you to a divine and higher space. Sambhrani and Dhoop are variations of agarbatti.
In Sanskrit, the word Agaru means ‘light-weight’; while the Agar tree is a strong and durable one, it is also soft and light in weight.
The Tradition: It is a tradition in India to light lamps or diyas/deepams and agarbattis every morning and evening in houses. This is done to spread fragrance and usher in good energy. It is believed that scented fumes will ward off unpleasant omens and odors alike.
The Cycle Pure Agarbatties has 40 sales depots that serve 5,000 distributors and 2,000 company sales representative supply to over eight lakh retail outlets.
Cycle Pure Agarbathi has eight stores in Tamil Nadu, nine in Karnataka, eight in Kerala, three in New Delhi, two in Mumbai and one in Andhra Pradesh. The company has planned to open five stores in Rajasthan, West Bengal and Haryana.
Retirement: Mr. Rao retired from the business in 1978 and withdrew from active participation from business after his retirement. He passed away in 1960.
Family: Mr. Rao had 7 Sons and 2 Daughters.
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Businesses:
From an incense stick manufacturing enterprise, it has evolved to a globally-renowned conglomerate that provides a repertoire of solutions in the natural aroma and fragrance category. The group has diversified into 6 sectors and in each, it has carved a name for itself.
Established in 1948, N. Ranga rao and Sons, manufacturers of Cycle Pure Agarbatties, is a pioneer and leader in the incense industry for over 6 decades and is now headed by Arjun Ranga. Cycle Pure Agarbatti has a library of 500 fragrances all created and blended in-house and are being exported to over 65 countries. The three main brands are Cycle - Three in One, Lia, Rhythm, Woods, NR and Flute.
Started in the 2004, and are the manufacturers and marketers of Personal and Air care Lifestyle products. They offer wide range of fragrance products like Reed diffusers, Fragrance vapourizers, Potporrius, Fragrance gifts, Pillow misters, Fragrant sachets, Fragrant stones, and a line of aromatic candles.
Established in 1983, Rangsons marketing is an independent, professional organization marketing Cycle Pure Agarbattis and Ripple products. It markets all the products of the group companies in India. The marketing team has around 800 marketing and sales professionals spread across the country.
NESSO - Natural & Essential Oils Private Limited is the manufacturer and marketer of essential oils and floral extracts. It was established in the year 1979. NESSO is the global leader in Indian floral extracts having 3 extraction facilities located near cultivation clusters in South-India with the capacity to process 12 tons of fresh flower daily.
Established in 1993, Rangsons Electronics is headed by CEO Pavan Ranga, it is the first Electronic system and design and manufacturing company in India to be certified as AS 9100-C, the quality standards required by the aerospace industry. The company has been certified for ISO 9001: 2008, ISO 13485: 2003, ISO 14001: 2004 & OHSAS 18001: 2007 and is an early adapter of RoHS regulations.
In 2017 Cycle Pure Agarbathies, the agarbathi to aerospace conglomerate, brings its three brand ambassadors- Amitabh Bachan, Sourav Ganguly and Ramesh Arvind together for its campaign ‘India Prays with Cycle’.
"The brand has been built by relentless focus on a narrative (prayer) and an association with cricket." - Jessie Paul, founder and CEO, Paul Writer Strategic Advisory
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) :
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