This is a story that has been told before but worth telling again. A tale of smart innovation in design, thought, and marketing. It is a story of ‘rats (not rags) to success and riches.’ Well, almost literally.
A few days ago, an acquaintance shared photos of an old tin can of Parachute coconut hair oil with the caption – ‘Nostalgia.’ But for me, Parachute is more than nostalgia. It is our present, a brand that has withstood competition – and rats – and has come out the winner. Till today.
Why rats? Well, there is a story to it. Parachute oil from Marico Industries, earlier known as Bombay Oil Industries Limited, initially used to be sold as a commodity in bulk – in large 15-liter tin cans.
In the 80s, Harsh Mariwala, founder of Marico Industries, sensed the potential of the retail sector, and after observing competitors such as Shalimar – another legacy coconut oil company in Kolkata, saw the opportunity in delivering smaller branded packs.
Mariwala took into account the fact that traders were buying the large tins and successfully pushing their own smaller packages of Parachute coconut oil to customers and raking in the moolah.
In those days, coconut oil was sold in sealed tin cans to prevent leakage – even the small packs. Apart from being cumbersome to open, the tin cans were fraught with the risk of injuries to users. Besides, Mariwala wanted to push Parachute as a premium brand.
Tin cans wouldn’t look good on the shelves and only plastic with its premiumness and finesse would provide the shelf impact.
But there was a glitch – rats. Upon further investigation, Marico found out that retailers had an unsavory experience with plastic containers for coconut oil – an experiment tried by someone a few years earlier.
Drawn by the smell of coconut oil, rodents nibbled on the badly packed square plastic containers and feasted on the oil. Due to the leakage, the oil would spill out and damage other goods. So it was a straight no from retailers.
After some brainstorming sessions, Marico came out with an innovative cylindrical plastic container, which made it difficult for the rats to gnaw on the bottle or get a grip on it. The container was designed in such a way that not a single drip would ooze out, making it impossible for the rats to smell the oil.
But the retailers were still not on the same page. To convince them, Marico locked rats in a cage with bottles full of oil for two days. The experiment was recorded. The company assured the retailers of the absolute safety of the plastic containers and even guaranteed compensation in case of damage.
“The rest, as they say, is history. We gradually created awareness about the advantages of plastic containers and within a short period of time, the entire market shifted from tin to plastic,” Harsh Mariwala said at the 6th Injection, Blow, Roto & PET Moulding International Summit 2018 in Mumbai, where he shared the story of Parachute’s success.
At the same summit, Mariwala was bestowed the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to business and the plastic industry.
The innovations did not stop there. Coconut oil is prone to freezing at lower temperatures and cannot be poured from a bottle with a small opening. To overcome that problem, the company came out with a bottle with a wide mouth and spout.
Now Marico has another variant, the Advanced Ayurvedic Hot Oil, which is primarily coconut oil mixed with other ayurvedic formulations, which flows freely even in winter.
All in all, it is a story of innovation, design, and ideation blended with the right consumer research and marketing that made Parachute a success story. Till today.
