Tata Paras completes 25 years
Tata Paras, a flagship brand of Tata Chemicals’ crop nutrition business, is a perfect example of leveraging an acquisition and integrating it with the existing business and its offerings. Sampoorna santulit poshan, as they call it, the Paras crop nutrition brand came into existence in 1986.
Starting off initially on the premise of a basic fertiliser, the brand today stands for an entire range of crop nutrition products, with basic, organic and speciality all under its portfolio, and stands for quality, trust and commitment in the minds of its consumers. In 2011, the brand celebrates 25 glorious years of its existence as one of the leading players in the crop nutrition segment, touching the lives of the Indian farmers through a vast network of 800 dealers, 681 Tata Kisan Sansar outlets, and 5,000 retailers in eight states of India spread across the north and the east – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam.
Way back in the early 80s, the fertiliser industry largely revolved around availability of fertilisers and there was a lack of differentiation between the offerings in the fertiliser segment. Fertilisers were sold like commodities, packed in plain hessian bags and sacks. The challenges were numerous, ranging from losses in transit to high possibility of product adulteration. This was the phase when Paras embarked on a journey of inventing the fertiliser branding space, which can indeed be remembered as a new dawn in fertiliser marketing.
Right since its inception, Paras DAP had all the elements to make it a strong brand, as it focused on the existing needs of the Indian farmer – the most crucial pillar of Indian agriculture. It was positioned on guaranteed quality which was visible in its right-sized granules and in the uniform colour of the product. It was for the first time in the history of Indian agriculture that a fertiliser offering was made attractive and given a distinct personality by using bright yellow colour PP bags. Huge emphasis was given on ensuring belief and developing trust in the brand quality through focussed initiatives like ‘no hook usage’ and ‘tamper proof stitching’ which worked on the existing gap of adulteration. Paras with its continuous efforts towards brand creation made it almost synonymous with DAP.
Paras rode the wave of popularity in the minds of farmers with consistently supported strong brand messages and stories to keep the excitement alive and to build on the farmers’ faith. Paras DAP’s campaign as a mahashaktishali product capable of giving 64 percent nutrients (N 18 percent and P 46 percent), and ensuring that each and every granule of Paras DAP provides 64 percent nutrients, was successful in establishing the features of the product.
Over a period of time, Paras continued to add to its portfolio new products like SSP, MOP and various NPK grades and initiated the concept of balanced crop nutrition by N, P and K. It was a consequence of the brand’s consistent quality and performance that the farmers were able to attain high-quality yields from their crop. In a world of uncertainties, farmers started believing that Paras is the only fertiliser which he can trust and depend on. This was reinforced through brand communication which spoke of farmers reaping consistent golden harvests year after year through balanced use of quality crop nutrients, communicated through the brand message — Paras — Sona Ugaye Bar Bar.
The 2004–06 period was eventful in the history of Paras, as Tata Chemicals acquired it from HLCL and integrated it with its existing brand as Tata Paras, reinforcing the brand values of trust and quality. This resulted in the addition of a critical nutrient — urea — under the brand portfolio. It was the perfect integration of two strong brands, leveraging values of trust and premium quality.
2004 was also a significant year for the crop nutrition business, as the company repositioned its agri-retail outlets, Tata Kisan Sansar (started in 1994 as Tata Kisan Kendra, exclusive franchised retail outlets of Tata Chemicals), as a ‘one-stop farmer’s solution shop’ offering a range of agri products and services. Presently, there are 32 hubs, which cater to 681 Tata Kisan Sansars, covering around 22,000 villages, reaching out to over 2.7 million farmers, offering solutions that help enhance productivity and income. The TKS outlets helped in directly interfacing with farmers and educating them about crop nutrition products and their benefits, and the use of progressive agricultural practices.
In 2006, the fertiliser business was renamed as crop nutrition business, which was better aligned to the changing soil needs and business needs. This change was reflected in the range of offerings which were added to the Paras portfolio to include speciality and organic nutrients, with strong and meaningful benefits of balanced crop nutrition (sampoorna santulit poshan). In a short time, Paras undertook intensive concept-selling among traders and farmers, and has now become a market leader in speciality nutrients such as zinc and boron.
In 2010, an innovative offering, Paras Farmoola — Ek Mein Sab — a customised fertiliser was launched. Paras Farmoola is an area- and crop-specific nutrient, which enhances crop productivity, promotes balanced application of nutrients and improves soil health. These new offerings have played a strong role in keeping the brand personality of Paras in the eyes of its consumers as modern and dynamic.
Over these 25 years, Tata Paras has relentlessly contributed towards improving the quality of life of the farmers, with efforts to bridge the gap between adversity and prosperity. Today, Paras, in the true sense, is the farmer’s friend on whom he can rely upon for his harvest, and trust when it comes to giving the best nutrition to his crops. With expansion plans into new geographies, Tata Paras is spreading its wings to reach out to farmers at an all-India level now. It is the start of yet another eventful journey.