Indian hand-rolled cigarettes get cool in overseas markets
Indian hand-rolled cigarettes get cool in overseas markets
Biman Mukherji, Agence France Presse, New Delhi
India's humble bidi, the pungent hand-rolled cigarette touted as the poor man's mini cigar, is proving an unlikely export earner with rising sales in the overseas market.
Top Indian brands such as 501 and 502 Pataka are beginning to do brisk business in countries as diverse as Britain, Switzerland, the West Indies and Indonesia.
Industry officials said customer inquiries started pouring in after manufacturers took to advertising bidis on the Internet with a series of low-cost promotions.
"Bidis are getting popular abroad. We take care to follow each and every inquiry very carefully," said K.G. Prabhu, assistant general manager at Ganesh Bidi, one of India's largest bidi manufacturers.
Prabhu said his company's export earnings had been steadily rising by 15 to 20 percent a year, although the maze of regulations governing the tobacco industry in most countries meant a lot of work had to be done before landing a firm order.
But such obstacles are doing nothing to dampen the hard-sell, as manufacturers scramble for a slice of the growing foreign market.
"We make best quality, non-flavored, flavored and herbal bidis. Our famous brands come in all flavors, vanilla, orange, lime, menthol and also 100 percent natural bidis," reads one Internet advertisement.
India's smoke more than one trillion bidis every year. An experienced worker can roll 2,000 a day.
The blending process for manufacturing the most popular bidi brands is a closely-guarded secret, but is roughly done by mixing different grades of tobacco and wrapping them in a leaf called the tendu.
The rolls are cut to size, tied up with a thread and then roasted in an oven to remove moisture and give the bidi its typically strong flavor.
"The aroma and the flavor is inimitable, but it takes time for a new smoker to get used to it," says Ramesh Chanchlani, proprietor of "A-one bidi".
Industry officials said the biggest market at the moment is the Middle East and the United States, but bidis are also making inroads in Australia.
Bidi manufacturers have been setting up their overseas networks by appointing sales agents for the markets wherever the volumes were big enough.
Chanchlani said manufacturers had introduced fruit flavors for the overseas markets as many people liked to experiment with taste.
"These flavored varieties would not be successful at home as people like to stick to the original taste."
In India, conventional cigarettes make up only about 20 percent of the national tobacco market.
The bidi industry is highly decentralized and many manufacturers are unlicensed. Much of the manufacturing is done by cottage industries and often whole families, including women and children, are engaged in bidi production.
The industry has been targeted by child labor organizations, who say up to six million children aged between four and 14 are engaged in rolling bidis.