Well-known in the chewing tobacco segment, the Dharampal Satyapal (DS) Group now boasts of expertise in several segments including FMCG, packaging and rubber thread.

As the group nears 80 years of its formation, it is enthusiastically expanding its hospitality business and seeing cement and power as interesting areas to widen its reach.

Rajiv Kumar, vice-chairman and managing director talks about the past, present and future of the Rs 1200 crore conglomerate.

Excerpts:

How has DS Group changed over in these years?

It was my grandfather’s (Dharampal) vision that led to the formation of the group way back in 1929. He started off with a small perfumery shop in Chandni Chowk. He then entered the chewing tobacco market, which soon gained popularity among the connoisseurs.

My father continued with the virtues as well as the existing lines of business. It was during his time that tobacco brands like BABA, Tulsi and others were launched. Innovation and quality being hallmarks of the group, we introduced innovative products like tabletop sprinklers (Catch spices), spring water and mouth fresheners (Pass Pass).

The group has achieved several milestones while moving from a single product to a multi brand company. The brand will continue expanding with newer product variants.

What innovations can we expect in the F&B sector?

Our consumers can expect an innovative launch in this segment soon. We should be ready to introduce it by Diwali this year. However, at the moment it would be too early to reveal the details about the product, but we are confident that people wouldn’t have seen something like this in India.

The product will aptly reflect our company’s motto: innovation and diversification.

Catch natural spring water has not been able to capture the market as compared to other mineral water brands. Do you think its high price has affected its market share?

We never wanted to target masses. Catch spring water is the only natural spring water available in the market and we are proud to be its producers. The production takes place in Manali, which raises the logistics cost. We are looking for more resources.

We are not bothered about the market share as we don’t perceive other mineral water players in the market as our competitors. Most people do not understand the difference between spring water and mineral water. The issue we are facing in the segment is that even the government does not acknowledge spring water as a separate category.

This is why we are not permitted to write the words ‘spring water’ on the bottles. But we are happy with the response we have got so far. The demand for Catch spring water comes from people who value the product and these constitute mainly institutional sales from hotels and high commissions.

How are mouth fresheners and the tobacco segment doing?

These two are the highest revenue generators for our group. We have recently launched Meetha Mazaa, a new flavour in Rajnigandha, our premium mouth freshener brand. The product is a blend of dry dates, cardamom seeds, saunf and betel nut.

We are targeting the youth for this product. The novelty of the product lies in its packaging, which is bio-degradable. It is difficult to duplicate the pack and is convenient to use.

There is a lot of diversification happening in hospitality sector as well. Are their any plans to get bigger in this sector?

Certainly. It’s the sunshine sector after all. The group has acquired the Airport Hotel at Kolkata, which will be converted into a five star and a budget hotel in a span of 3-4 years. There is a lot of growth potential in North East, with heavy investments going in the power and cement sector.

Cashing on this growth, we have signed an MOU with Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) to give Guwahati its first five star hotel. Also, in Jaipur, a five star hotel project is in the pipeline.