Acharya Balkrishna is India's 8th richest: What it tells us about Patanjali's dream run in FMCG
Yoga guru Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd has emerged as the second-largest FMCG giant in India. And its 45-year-old CEO, Acharya Balkrishna, is the eighth richest Indian, according to the just-released Hurun India Rich List 2017, compiled by the international research agency, Hurun. He is worth Rs 70,000 crore, up by 173 per cent in the last one year.
It’s an inspiring story of meteoric rise, no doubt: a success model based on low-pricing, “natural and pure” product positioning, “swadeshi” identity, unique sales and distribution strategy and a famous yoga guru as its brand ambassador. Patanjali is discussed as a “case study” across management schools in India now.
Whither quality?
But why is it that the products of one of India’s top FMCG players repeatedly fail quality tests? In fact, since 2012, when a sudden raid at Kankhal revealed sub-standard samples of mustard oil, salt, pineapple jam, besan and honey, questions have been raised again and again about the credibility of Patanjali.
In 2015, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) issued a notice to Patanjali (as well as to Akash Yog Health Products which manufactured noodles for the company) for violating food safety norms in atta noodles. The same year, there was an outcry over fungus in bottles of “desi ghee,” manufactured by Patanjali. Yet another controversy opened up around the Divya Putrajeevak Seed, a cure for infertility that promised a son. Last year, a local court in Haridwar slapped a fine of Rs 11 lakh on five production units of Patanjali, for “misbranding” and "misleading advertisements".
This year, Patanjali products have come under the scanner several times: in April, when the armed forces’ Canteen Stores Department suspended the sale of Divya Amla Juice, after it failed a quality test; in May, when a Right to Information query revealed that Patanjali’s Shivlingi Beej had 31.68 per cent “foreign matter” while Divya Amla Juice was composed of less than the prescribed pH value (a measure of alkalinity); in June, when a public notice was issued by Nepal government, asking Patanjali to recall six medical products that had failed microbial and/or quality tests.
Ask those questions
There are many more question marks: about the use of additives and sugar in “pure, natural,” products; about juices that contain harmful combinations (for example, sodium benzoate with Vitamin C in amla juice); about products that are manufactured and sold without the approval of FSSAI; about use of false advertisements and unsubstantiated allegations against its rival FMCG companies and more.
Balakrishna and Baba Ramdev have consistently resisted all questioning. The former has called these questions attempts to “malign” Patanjali’s image, while the Baba has claimed that many of the products are “medicinal” and not under the purview of the FSSAI, but of the AYUSH ministry. Why, then, is the AYUSH ministry silent? Why is the government not testing Patanjali products more rigorously? How can a company gain enormous profits yet their products fail quality tests repeatedly? How can anybody sell anything without rigorous tests?
At a time when harmful, dangerous chemicals and non-foods are invading our lives through food, cosmetics and household articles of daily use, we need to ask all those questions, unless we want to face terrible human and economic costs in the future.
Tough science of Ayurveda
Ayurveda is our gift to ourselves and to the world. But it’s a tough science and created at a time when modern packaging wasn’t around. Traditional texts caution that there are herbs, powders and pastes that remain potent only for a few months. They also point out that formulations containing oil and ghee lose their efficacy within 15 months, while those containing minerals and alcohol last forever.
Also, the age-old kaviraj and vaid would never prescribe anything without writing out the composition and method of preparation. Now, no one knows what happens to packaged ayurvedic products being sold commercially. No one also knows the real composition of finished products or what sort of processing and packaging they went through.
Without all these, an old science runs the risk of being misused. A series of studies in prestigious science journals have found heavy metals (lead, mercury and arsenic) above acceptable levels in many of India’s ayurvedic products. The fear of toxicity is real (the reason why the USFDA puts ayruvedic products under rigorous tests). Yet most manufacturers do not indicate the presence of heavy metals on their labels, nor the method of preparation. The number of reports of people experiencing negative effects caused by the use of herbal drugs is rising, according to experts.
Ask any pharmacologist and they will tell you that Indian herbal extracts do not undergo rigorous toxicity tests.
Without that, we will not only harm our health, we will also undermine a great and rigorous science that emerged in India thousands of years ago.