Rajesh Mehra – Director and Promoter, Jaquar Group
"Our passion for manufacturing, and determination to evolve and stay ahead enveloped with pioneering thinking, continuous technical up-gradation and a future-oriented outlook, helped the brand garner the Brand of the Year position today. And, there could be no better validation of our approach to excellence."
Rajesh Mehra – Director and Promoter, Jaquar Group
In 1960, six decades ago, a visionary took the entrepreneurial plunge along with a friend to start ESSCO from Delhi. Among the few pioneers to create a brand in a highly unorganized segment, N.L Mehra faced an uphill task in changing the mindset of people considering that bathroom fittings were sold as a commodity and no one saw the value of a branded product and turned the stones with his brand ESSCO.
The largest player in the country's bath-fitting market was incepted with humble beginnings in Delhi with the flagship brand ESSCO (value) for the affordable value segment. Since then, a lot has changed as Jaquar encapsulated premium brand Jaquar (1986), luxury brand Artize (2010) respectively, and Jaquar Lighting (Complete LED Lighting Solution segments, under the supervision of Rajesh Mehra, Director and Promoter of Jaquar Group who joined the family venture in 1978 and became responsible for portfolio expansion and growth.
The leader continued the legacy of the self-reliant brand which moved towards revolutionizing the bath fittings market with the launch of an advanced flush valve, demonstrating superior engineering, and making Jaquar the largest-selling brand today offering 'complete bathroom and lighting solutions' across value, premium and luxury segments.
Not just a front-runner in India, but overseas too, Jaquar Group's global footprint is in more than 60 countries across Europe, Middle East, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the SAARC region, from 6 state-of-the-art manufacturing units in India (including 1 in South Korea), spread over 3,29,000 sq. m, equipped with modern machines and processes, a well-timed investment; to their R&D team, focused on being relevant; their man-machine combination to achieve excellence, the most superior quality of product finish, and surpass global standardization guidelines.
"Started by our father on the sole capital of hard-work and determination, Jaquar Group has certainly come to a long way adding our value system which has fuelled the growth of the brand has pivoted on the passion for people and relationships, commitment towards making the best quality products and integrity," Mr. Rajesh Mehra shared.
Rajesh Mehra, as Director and Promoter of the biggest players in the Indian sanitary ware segment Jaquar Group and its more than 10,000 professionals from the forefront. Rajesh Mehra has been a core part of the expansion of the brand geographically and in terms of a deeper portfolio to cater to various segments of the bathroom and lighting solutions industry through the following brands.
With Artize, among India's first and limited statement luxury bath and sanitaryware brand known for creating one-of-a-kind masterpieces, the brand offers the most aesthetically stunning and aspirational yet functional collection of faucets, showers, sanitaryware and wellness products while maintaining new benchmarks with its elevated designs that eulogize and transform the everyday bath experience to a relaxing and indulgent ritual.
Jaquar, is a brand which caters to premium segment as the group evolve into a 'complete bathroom solutions' enterprise and successfully diversified into various bath verticals like sanitary ware, shower enclosure, water heaters, concealed cisterns and wellness range of products like whirlpool, shower panels, showers, steam cabin and spa.
Essco, the first brand by Jaquar Group directed towards the value segment, is a value for money bath brand trailblazing in complete bathroom solutions. Existing pan-India, Jaquar's ESSCO marries well with the consumerist approach of the brand focused on a good quality product at affordable pricing, one that was unheard of in the corridors of bath fitting manufacturers.
Jaquar Lighting offers comprehensive LED lighting solutions for residential, commercial, and outdoor use. From LED bulbs and tube lights to chandeliers, landscape lighting and accessories, Jaquar Lighting has a holistic solution, with an extensive range that lets you choose for varied budgets without compromising on quality and reliability.
Entrepreneurship, by its very nature, deals with challenges and the spirit of overcoming them in every sector. Jaquar Group has also faced its share of adversities, as they were shown resistance and apprehension from dealers and other buyers initially. However, this helped the brand develop their growth index and roadmap, wherein they took it upon themselves to builders, engineers, and retail consumers through small exhibitions and creating a direct approach.
Jaquar Group is also a pioneer in the customer care service in the bathroom fittings industry assisting clients from installation to repair processes. This made Jaquar a trustworthy brand among customers and enhanced brand credulity. It also conveyed the message that they were in the market for the long run successfully responding to the market challenges and addressing customer needs.
To ensure continued faith and trust of the clientele post-liberalization and entry of international players in the market, focused on further enhancing quality, developing products to respond to current needs and launch products in Indian that delivered along the lines of international guidelines.
In a post-pandemic world, the idea of touch has changed significantly. Our everyday activities are now guided by the looming discretion of us avoiding contact with widely/publicly accessed surfaces unless necessary, and that too with the utmost caution. Identifying this as a concern that is here to stay, Jaquar Group's latest initiative 'Sensor and Sensibility' is aimed at encouraging a contactless, sustainable, and more functional interface offering both bath and lighting solutions.
The product range incorporates Jaquar's proficient sensory intelligence technology and customization of existing products to eliminate/minimize hand contact. It has become necessary to 'break the chain' of infection and rehabilitate most facets of the lives including the places people visit. The Jaquar Group's quality-assured, technology-backed, smart 'touch-free' products hope to aid in a seamless transition to a contactless lifestyle for both public and private spaces.
Jaquar has been tapping into online lead generation which are further aimed to be converted into offline sales. Furthermore, the team intends to launch an AI tool which will significantly capture more data via customer visits to our website, to generate first-hand experience in terms of visualization of their dream bathrooms along with the estimation and, provide them with directions to their nearest dealer.
While initially Jaquar Group's marketing and manufacturing did bear the brunt of the pandemic, the brand continued to work with solution-oriented fashion, adopted newer techniques, and developed virtual tools (showroom tours, e-demo, walk-throughs, online presentations, etc) to sail through the tough time. Interestingly, this multiplied their interaction with the customers, especially the builders and they have drawn a big advantage of this situation and observed an increase in productivity.
With the foray into the lighting business, which now contributes close to 10 percent of total revenue, they plan to become a complete lighting solutions provider with their expanded range of products which will be on offer from the new manufacturing plant. The lighting plant was to be commissioned a couple of months ago but was delayed due to the COVID-19-led lockdown.
Apart from the commissioning of lighting fittings plant in Bhiwadi, they plan to open a water heater manufacturing unit at Kundli by October 2020 increasing the current number of 5 manufacturing units to 7. They will continue to invest and go ahead with the CAPEX plans despite this Covid-19 pandemic. The investments they are making will enable them to not only consolidate the domestic market, their core focus area but also step up overseas business.
Rajesh Mehra, who supervised Jaquar to reach its current position, takes pride inability to work towards expanding the Group's portfolio from a single brand to a house of brands spanning across segments. He shared, "The trajectory of the group's undisputed market leader status, bolstering the company to being recognized as one of the world's fastest-growing complete bathroom & lighting solutions brand certainly has not been easy for us. We have been successful in our feat to make the Jaquar Group a 'Made in India global brand."
He further added, "Another milestone that I am grateful to have achieved is the extensive contributions towards building an economically viable and socially harmonious community through activities in the fields of education, health, sanitation, rural development and skill development and an environmentally friendly corporation."
Firmly in place, Jaquar Group's plans for incredible growth are inclusive of expanding capacity and production, ramping up manufacturing units, and investing in growing overseas footprint. They are solely leading as a brand offering a comprehensive bathroom and lightning solutions industry.
While over past six decades, they have succeeded and grown as the largest player in the country's sanitaryware markets and with their diverse range of lighting products and new manufacturing plant, they will now play a critical role in the lighting industry in India and aim to double the Groups turnover to USD 1 billion over the next few years.
With 15 Jaquar World showrooms already in existence, they plan to open a few more globally by 2022 and they expect to contribute an estimated 25-30% of the expanded business through exports over the next five years. The brand Essco pioneered the concept of branded bath fittings in India. Now in its 60th year, Essco offers a complete range of bathroom solutions covering a wide range of options in bath fittings, sanitaryware, water heater and bathroom accessories. The brand continues to be the most respected name in the market. ESSCO's portfolio is rapidly expanding its footprint in tier-II, III & IV cities across India, and is targeting a turnover of INR 800 crores, and a retail strength of 5000+ outlets in the next few years. They aim to exploit the untapped potential of the remaining 30% of the market.
"Pursue your passion. A cliché yet truly effective advice is exactly what I would like to share with the readers. Search for something that you find immensely rewarding and satisfying and the rest will follow. Any business is as successful as the people working in it and all inspiring leaders who created successful companies have one thing in common i.e. they work with talented, courageous and loyal people," shared Rajesh Mehra.
He further asserted, "Having mentioned that, relationships are paramount in any business. Invest in people who share your vision, invest in the right relationships, recruit well, invest in products and technology which will eventually enhance lives. Be honest and ethical in everything you do. Have strong values. Live what you are preaching."
We all gain when the weakest become stronger. Jaquar is a brand conscious of the people and communities they engage with and consistently endeavours to uplift them. Jaquar Group's manufacturing units in the country and its global HQ located in Manesar are all stellar examples of 'green' spaces. The Group's HQ spread over 12 acres has been awarded the LEED Platinum Certified rating from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the highest level of green building certification awarded to a building along with the Jaquar Foundation established in the year 2015 is how Jaquar impacts positively to the society.
With the mission to continually spearhead corporate social responsibility initiatives of the Jaquar Group, the foundation articulates their role in helping others as they actively contribute to the social and economic development of the communities in which they operate and reach out to the underserved.
Sanitation, Health and Education form the core of our projects, through which they aim to create a Swachchha, Swastha evam Shikshit Bharat. They have over 30 ongoing projects in association with state technical education departments (ITI) of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Assam, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Odisha.
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