A family enterprise from Bangalore, Baltha has earned immense recognition in the past few years as a household products brand in India. Still, it is quite fascinating to know that they first began their journey as aluminium traders.
Under the strong leadership of the Balraj Baltha, the company remained in the trading business for thirty years, after which his children, the Baltha brothers, took over and decided to launch the company’s first aluminium ladder from their family-run outlet in Bangalore.
The current CMO of Bathla, Dev Bathla, commented: “We pivoted to manufacturing home products in the ’90s! What started out as a simple operation has now grown to be one of the leading Home Essentials brands in the country. The transition was a smooth one; as my father and uncle joined the business, they yearned for more, and their aspirations were to create, not just trade, that gave birth to India’s first Ladder Brand.”
It might seem arbitrary at first glance, but aluminium ladders are widely used in various operational activities around the world. It is one of the most important but heavily forgotten logistical accessories. Nowadays, aluminium ladders are so common in India that one can find a model in each local grocery store. Still, before the launch of this first example, the imitations wouldn’t have followed.
Bathla started gaining pace with ladders and then very soon bridged the gap to manufacture ironing boards and cloth dryers. All of these items were a homage to their aluminium business in the past. The company at this moment also makes garden organisers, tables and a range of other accessories.
“Aligning the vision for everyone involved while creating a category from scratch and being an organised player in an extremely unorganised sector was challenging. We also transitioned from the offline world to the online world with certain challenges, but we did so gladly as we saw the numerous benefits that came with it. Thankfully with the hard work put in by my dad and uncle, our brand persona was already built prior to the advent of e-commerce, and our objective was to strengthen that persona and tweak it wherever necessary”, Dev went on to add.
Bathla has a record of selling one out of every two ladders in India because of its legacy and customer service.
Dev Bathla felt nostalgic for those days spent as an intern cutting aluminium for the steps of their ladder on the factory floors and exclaimed: “We source our core raw materials from Jindal, Hindalco, etc. However, we have a vast network of micro-enterprises that we like to work with; this allows us to help them grow with us, further strengthening the bond within our Supply Chain.”
The company is now looking for growth beyond the boundaries, and in doing so, it believes, Bathla would reach the aspired height of success in the long run.
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