Nearly a decade-old Ripple Fragrances Pvt. Ltd., a part of the Mysore-based over Rs.1,000-crore NR Group, is gearing up to step up its national presence to cash in on a couple of recently spotted growth drivers.
The increased air-conditioning space in a household and change in lifestyle are aiding Ripple, a fragrance solution provider for a variety of living spaces, in its expansion journey. According to Kiran V. Ranga, Managing Director, Ripple is in the process of building a complete home fragrance chain, a first of its kind in the country, with its own stores under the brand IRIS Aroma Boutique. It has already three such stores in Bangalore and one in Pune. It has just opened its Chennai store. Soon, similar stores will be set up in Mumbai and National Capital Region. It sells lifestyle home fragrances under the brand IRIS. It also sells car and room fresheners under Lia brand.
For the NR Group, the business of fragrance has come a long way, and traversed from puja room to other living spaces. The Cycle brand of incense sticks has given the NR Group a respected identity. Since fragrance has assumed a larger connotation in the modern context in the form of creating a positive ambience, the NR Group conceived Ripple as a new delivery platform to cater to the non-puja and non-prayer segment of the fragrance business.
Mr. Reddy estimated that the air-care market where Ripple was operating would be around Rs.400 crore. Declining to divulge sales numbers, he said Ripple had been growing at over 50 per cent.
At present, Ripple is present in over 1,000 outlets. The objective was to double the presence and step up the number of IRIS Aroma Boutique stores to 10 by next year, he said.
“Rate of adaption of this category (air-care for living space) and awareness are key challenges to the growth,” he said.
