MDPH to launch cow dung-based Gauved portfolio of products

MDPH has recently launched hand wash, dishwash and shining powder

Mysore Deep Perfumery House (MDPH), which is among the top three incense sticks (agarbathis) manufacturers in the country, will launch its Gauved portfolio of products that have cow dung as raw material, starting with sambrani (benzoin), this week.

“We will launch the Gauved sambrani cups this week, and by next month we will launch Gauved agarbatti, dhoop (incense in cups) and dhoop cones,” said Anshul Agrawal, Director of Mysore Deep Perfumery House (MDPH), which markets under the brand names Zed Black, Manthan, Coach and Orva.

Gauved will be MDPH’s another brand. Gauved’s raw material is cow dung. The company makes a powder from cow dung after drying it, before including it in its products. 

Anshul Agrawal, Director of Mysore Deep Perfumery House

“It (cow dung) is understood to have good air purification properties and is a natural product compared to other products,” Agarwal told businessline in an online interaction.

Recent launches

MDPH has recently launched hand wash, dishwash and shining powder. It is coming up with eau de toilette (EDT) perfume, and it will likely be launched next month under its La Riva brand, he said. 

Last week, the company launched Zed Black 3-in-1 agarbathis, a premium product, specially for Tamil Nadu. The package has inscriptions that say the incense sticks have been made specially made for Tamil Nadu.

The company has recently launched 8-inch bamboo-less incense sticks in the market, after having introduced six-inch bamboo-less incense sticks earlier, by upgrading its technology. Usually, a bamboo stick holds the incense together. 

The bamboo-less incense sticks come with a special stand, and they can be lit anywhere. “The product has been well received. Ultimately, it is for the people to decide on what they want,” he said. 

Business divisions

MDPH has divided its business into four divisions, and the agarbatti and dhoop and hygiene divisions are performing well in the domestic market. The other two are candy and food production. 

“We are seeing high growth in dhoop and bamboo-less incense sticks. In exports, there has been tremendous growth this year. The US and Mexico are our top markets, of around 40-plus where we ship our consignments to,” said Agarwal. 

The hygiene division is also well with its camphor being accepted well in the market. The pooja (worship) portfolio under “Samparan” series with pooja oil and camphor has grown by over 50 per cent, he said.

MDPH’s new factory in Kshipra, launched post-Covid, in Madhya Pradesh, has been expanded to 3.5 lakh sq ft from 2 lakh sq ft, with 1,700 being employed. Of these, women make up 85 per cent. “We have converted the plant into a solar facility, and it is being run by solar power,” Agarwal said. Overall, the company employs has 4,500 workers on its payroll, and 800 others for sales and administration. 

Expansion plans

The company, which has cricketer MS Dhoni and Hindi actor Hritik Roshan for Zed Black as its ambassadors for the past eight and four years respectively, has Doraemon as its brand ambassador for its confectionary brand DinDin. 

The company, which sources its bamboo from the North-East, particularly Assam and Tripura, has tasted success with the launch of Blunt Black air freshner abroad. “It is doing extremely well in the US, where we witnessed 158 per cent growth in line with our overall export market growth,” he said.

Stating that the incense sticks market is witnessing a growth where there is good demand for premium products, Agarwa said its premium Manthan brand is witnessing sales of 3-4 lakh packets every month. 

On expansion plans, the MDPH director said the company was opening more depots with Goa and Lucknow likely to join the list soon. The company has been listed on quick service commerc platforms Swiggy and Big Basket. It will soon figure on Blinkit.

“We are focusing a lot on digitalisation, and we want to create a very robust system, which we are working on, where all our distributors and retailers are connected to the company in terms of their orders, supply and loyalty. Everything will be available on a single platform,” said Agarwal.  The company will continue to focus on advertising in cricket as it connects the whole contract, he said. 

Published on May 24, 2025