Patanjali enters big retail with Future Group tie-up

Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali
Ayurved has entered into an exclusive
partnership with Future Group to make its
entire range of products available in Big
Bazaar outlets across the country.
Other food-based chains of the country’s
largest retailer such as Easyday, KB’s
Aadhaar and Nilgiris too will subsequently
sell Patanjali products, making them
available in more than 240 cities and
towns in the country, Future Group
founder and CEO Kishore Biyani told a
press conference on Friday.
The two companies are also looking at
forming a manufacturing partnership in
the future.
“Manufacturing is another relationship that
we are exploring,” Biyani said. “We have
our own dairy, rice mill, spice mill and a
lot of other edible product categories.
This gives us a chance to work together
on this relationship,” he said.
Ramdev confirmed “initial talks” on
production partnership. “We have planned
around five units for Patanjali for the
future expansion and wherever possible
we would discuss about this proposition
with Future Group in future,” he said.
“This is just the first step. We will explore
all the available option in the future.”
Under the marketing partnership, Future
Group will set up an office for
collaborating with Patanjali Ayurved in
Rishikesh to develop, market and
distribute these products exclusively in
modern trade. Patanjali products will also
be available at its own retail outlets which
number around 5,000 now.
Biyani is hopeful that Future Group stores
will do a business of Rs 1,000 crore in
20 months with Patanjali, which is
considered the fastest-growing consumer
products company in the country and is
already bigger than rivals such as Emami
and Jyothi Labs.
At the moment Unilever is the biggest
products partner for Future Group,
accounting for business of around Rs
1,300-1,400 crore, said Biyani, adding
that he wants to see Patanjali at the same
level.
The company expects to start with Rs 40
crore per month sales of Patanjali
products, which Biyani expects to go up
to Rs 80 crore in the next 12 months.
He also said that he believes that in
future this association could well become
a case study for the management schools
in the same way as the collaboration
between Procter & Gamble and Walmart in
the Unites States in the 1980s.
Biyani said he expected Patanjali to
become one of the top three FMCG
companies in a couple of years and help
Future Group to add additional one crore
customers.
The group gets around 35 crore footfall
yearly at its stores across the country,
and is expected to clock revenues of Rs
22,000-23,000 crore this fiscal, Biyani
said.
Patanjali Ayurved offers the entire range
of FMCG products in food, staples,
nutrition, hair care, skin care, dental care
and toileteries at a much competitive
price than other brands available in the
market.
Ramdev said Patanjali is expected to
become a Rs 5,000 crore brand by the
end of this financial year. “We will tell you
our plans of 2016-17 later because you
may not be able to believe the numbers
we are anticipating. In the coming five
years Patanjali would be the biggest
consumer brand in the country,” he said.
He also said Patanjali noodles would be
launched by October 15 and it would be
available across the country by the end of
this month.