Businesses should be patient for growth, impatient for profit: Ayush Gupta, KRBL Limited

Pricing Power; Easy To Mind, Easy To Find, and Accreting Brand Value are the three tenets of success for any brand, said Ayush Gupta, Business Head - Domestic Business, KRBL Limited while speaking at his special address at e4m Pitch BrandTalk.

In this session, Gupta shared the journey of how two commission agents built the brand from the bazaars of Delhi and transformed it into one of India's prominent basmati exporters. He started off his special address by sharing a glimpse of the history of the brand, about brothers Khushi Ram and Behari Lal's beginnings in the grain market of Delhi's Naya Bazaar as commission agents who sold rice and pulses for 1.5% commission.

They gained repute within the industry and became exporters and manufacturers.

They soon realized a market gap that KRBL Limited was about to fill with India Gate Basmati Rice. They observed that the by-product - broken rice was not exported and sold in the Indian market at lower margins. "The traders were blending pure basmati rice and selling it for huge profits and low quality. This is how India Gate, the good quality Basmati rice was born", said Gupta.

He named "Pricing Power; Easy To Mind, Easy To Find and Accreting Brand Value" as the three tenets of success.

"Businesses should be patient for growth and impatient for profit", stated Gupta. He further elaborated on the belief to not focus on growth alone, as it's not enough and can be dangerous, citing the example of the uprising and downfall of WeWork, both of which happened at a fast speed.

"Profitability takes a hit as we strive for growth; promotions are important to deliver growth but profitability is superior", he added. He further explained that a 1% increase in price can deliver 8% profit. He adds that what's challenging is to deliver the pricing power and justify a higher rate for an undifferentiated product.

Talking about the accessibility of the product, he states that the mental and physical availability of a brand is a pursuit of continuous improvement... But he stresses that "the physical availability comes before everything else, only then the consumer will lift your product".

India Gate has been delivering mental availability through presence across media, and never compromised on media spending, which has also resulted in the share of voice being as high as 80%, at certain times.

He concluded the address by stating, "Brands can only create value in the long-term by being meaningful, different, and salient".