Namit Bajoria was the darling of homemakers for keeping their kitchen clean and oil-stain free, with his auto clean electric chimney brand Kutchina. Though most of the upper middle class replaced exhaust fans with fancy kitchen chimneys as a style statement in their kitchens in the late 1990s, they later realised that keeping its filter oil-free is a tough job. It was here that young Bajoria from Kolkata found this problem as business opportunity. His auto clean kitchen chimney brand Kutchina moved into this space and changed the rule of the game in 2003. Bajoria’s kitchen appliance company Kutchina Home Makers Private Limited (formerly known as Bajoria Appliances Pvt Ltd) was the first to introduce auto clean Kitchen chimney technology from Germany, with filter-free oil collection system, which has given contemporary Indian cooking a lifestyle experience. “We had identified what was the constant woe of every Indian household and offered the right solution successfully,” explains Bajoria, founder & managing director, Kutchina. His company has subsequently become numero uno in the segment. Looking at his success and the benefit of the consumers, all players in the segment were forced to abandon the conventional filter technology and shifted to auto-clean technology over the years. Today, over 85 per cent of kitchen chimneys available in the market are with auto-clean technology. “We were the trendsetters,” adds Bajoria. At present, Kutchina is among the top five players in the Rs3,500 crore kitchen chimney market in the country. While Faber is the largest brand in the segment, Kutchina enjoys leadership position with 70 per cent market in eastern India. Bolstered by the success of the chimney business, Bajoria realised that, to grow, he needed to add more kitchen-related products. Hence, besides diverse range of kitchen chimneys, Kutchina also introduced other appliances like hobs, cooktops, built-in microwaves and dishwashers. Over the years, the company has entered into small appliances, such as grinder mixers, induction cookers, toasters, OTGs, electric kettles, etc. It has also forayed into the growing modular kitchen and water purifier segments. "The recent demand for kitchen appliances has been impressive and exceeded pre-Corona sales levels,’ informs Areyan Bajoria, director and younger brother of Namit Bajoria. A closely held Kutchina Home Makers today, the leading kitchen appliance brand in the country has an annual turnover of Rs395 crore. A debt-free company, it has achieved an over 12 per cent CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) over the last five years. Kitchen chimneys and modular kitchens contribute almost 75 per cent of the company’s revenue. “Our USP is that we are the only company in India that offers complete kitchen solution,” claims Bajoria. The company is now augmenting its manufacturing capability and is aiming to boost its pan India presence. Pursuing his passion Son of a small time businessman from Kolkata, who had leather chemical manufacturing unit in Ranchi, young Bajoria finished his college from St Xavier’s, Kolkata, and was sent to Ranchi to handle his father’s chemical plant. He was ambitious and wanted to start his own business. His father never forced him to stick to family business and allowed him to try out his passion. He convinced his father to give him Rs1.30 lakh and rented a 200 sq ft office room in Bowbazar in Kolkata. He started as distributers of telecom products like phones, FAX, EBPX in 1998. But he had to close it down within a year, because of the volatility of the market and presence of big players. He then took distributorship for water filters and vacuum cleaners of a Delhi-based company and began a direct selling, which chugged along with a turnover of Rs25 lakh in two years; but it was not going anywhere big. “I learned the value of marketing and direct selling,” Bajoria recalls.
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Bajoria: innovation is the key to success; Pix: Sajal Bose
