Patanjali Ayurved Limited: A Local Player Posing Threat to Multinationals

Abstract

This case presents the unique story of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. (Patanjali), which was started in 1997 as a small pharmacy in Uttaranchal by famous yoga guru Baba Ramdev and an ayurveda expert Acharya Balkrishna. It has evolved as a game-changer in Indian consumer goods industry with its ayurvedic, herbal and organic range of groceries, medicines, home and personal care items selling via its 1,200 Patanjali Chikitsalayas (operated in franchise mode), 2,500 Aarogya Kendras (operated in franchise mode), 7,000 stores in villages and 5,600 mobile marketing vehicles, clocking a turnover of INR5,000 crore in the FY 2015-16. It is all set to beat well-established FMCG players like HUL, Dabur, Godrej Consumer Products, Emami and Marico. This case reflects on the success story of Patanjali highlighting the marketing and business-level strategies that enabled sustainable competitive advantage and started posing a threat to well-established MNCs. This case reflects on how Patanjali created its own space in a highly crowded Indian FMCG space. Will it be able to sustain phenomenal growth and emerge as the market leader with revenues of INR10,000 crore by 2017 and INR20,000 crore by 2020?