Baba Ramdev's Patanjali has turned the Indian FMCG market upside down.
One of the more difficult yoga poses is the shirshasana, or headstand. It has also become the default posture for India's consumer staples industry. Whatever multinationals thought they knew about their market has been turned upside down in the past three years by a bearded guru in saffron robes.
At the present rate of growth, Remdev's Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. will be a $1 billion company next year. To grow from there, it will need a carefully measured dose of toxicity: Handled well, debt could be a tonic, helping the herbal brand sustain its sixfold expansion of the past three years.
Andy Mukherjee is a Bloomberg Gadfly columnist covering industrial companies and financial services. He previously was a columnist for Reuters Breakingviews. He has also worked for the Straits Times, ET NOW and Bloomberg News.
To contact the author of this story: Andy Mukherjee in Singapore at amukherjee@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Sillitoe at psillitoe@bloomberg.net
© 2017 Bloomberg L.P
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