A new Patanjali: The monk who sold toothpaste is at it again
Colgate ka to gate khul gaya, Nestle ka to panchhi urne wala hai, Pantene ka to pant gila hone wala hai, aur do saal me Unilever ka lever kharab ho jayega (Colgate’s gate has opened; Nestle’s bird [the Swiss company’s logo] has flown, Pantene’s pants are going to get wet, and in two years, Unilever’s lever will fail)." A month earlier, speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he had said, “Colgate will be below Patanjali by this year (in terms of revenue), and in three years, we will overtake Unilever." Such was his confidence back then that Patanjali Ayurved, the company he had co-founded with Acharya Balkrishna, would send the multinational corporations (MNCs) that had lorded over India’s fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) landscape for decades packing. In the end, however, the Patanjali founders failed in that endeavour as the MNCs took a leaf out of their ayurvedic playbook to beat them at their own game.
Today, the khadav(sandal) is on the other foot, with Patanjali seeing an erosion in revenue while its rivals, both Indian and foreign, are on the ascendancy. The founders are now looking to make a fresh attempt to rejuvenate Patanjali’s fading brands and make a dent in the FMCG space.
In 2019, Patanjali Ayurved acquired bankrupt edible oil major Ruchi Soya through the insolvency resolution process, and later rechristened it Patanjali Foods. The company is now at the forefront of the founders’ FMCG ambitions, with Patanjali Ayurved taking a back seat.
In 2023-24, the edible oil business contributed ₹22,383 crore—about 70%—to Patanjali Foods’ revenue, while the FMCG segment brought in ₹9,643 crore, or about 30%. The company wants half of its revenue to come from the FMCG category by the financial year 2028.
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