“When I decided to quit my corporate journey in 2016, I wanted to go back to the basics and start something that spoke to the rural population because of the huge impact of the rural landscape on my upbringing,” says Durlabh Kumar Rawat, Founder, Barosi.
Born and brought up in a small village in Uttar Pradesh, first-generation entrepreneur Durlabh completed his diploma in mechanical engineering from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Pusa in Delhi. Later, he worked in the auto sector for 12 years before starting Barosi, a dairy brand providing fresh, quality-assured milk to customers in Gurugram. The company also produces as well as procures ghee, honey, pickles, jaggery, white butter, and filter coffee.
Fresh, pure, and authentic
Durlabh set up a farm in Pataudi, Haryana in 2016 with the idea to start agriculture and deal with the B2B model. He found it challenging to understand the skill of entrepreneurship in the initial days, and adds that the first two years were difficult for him. “But it was always very clear for all of us that we were not going to turn our backs on the idea. We stayed mentally strong in this regard, and we realised that it might take time for us to be successful, but it will happen one day,” he admits.
Durlabh eventually decided to start building Barosi, a brand that derives its name from the Hindi word for a small hole dug in the ground which is filled with wood and cow dung cakes and is later set on low flame to heat milk in a clay pot. “A barosi slowly heats the milk and after a few hours, that milk gets the most amazing earthy fragrance,” he reminisces.
A completely offline brand initially, Barosi now follows a subscription model for milk once it started getting traction from residential areas. “After a surge in demand, we could decide on a commanding price for our products. Our first digital experience came when we acquired a brand in Gurugram, which was doing end-to-end digital marketing through their website and Google Adwords. That’s when we realised that we were missing out on something, and we decided to take guidance and start a website,” says Durlabh.
Growth and challenges
There are two aspects to the products offered by Barosi – the attributes of the products and the emotional aspect that ‘connects Bharat to India’. “This brand has always stood for simplicity, authenticity and we have built it to showcase the rural setup,” adds Durlabh.
Talking about the USP of the brand, the farmer-founder outlines the three major components of the brand – authenticity of the products, the digital system that tracks the ordered products from the origin to destination, and the rural unique positioning of the brand.
Attributing the use of 360-degree tech to the growth of the brand, Durlabh says, “All the operations, be it marketing, brand building or payments have been tech-enabled, and the core of our website leads our users to that. This has greatly helped us grow our business and reach our targets.”
However, managing the livestock and handling the finances in the initial days were tough tasks. “I realised that it’s important to run the entire ship when it comes to entrepreneurship. It was a DIY process for me, and gradually I understood the way financing works and how it is centrally positioned to run a successful brand,” he says.
Introducing India to Bharat and the world
Barosi is a proud Indian brand with positioning around Bharat and India, and the domain has been a natural fit in their brand’s story. “There’s a new trend around authentic Indian brands, and we are confident in our own skin. The .in domain projects us as a ‘new, confident Indian’ brand, and contributes to our complete brand package,” says Durlabh.
The difference in engagement before and after adopting the .in domain has been palpable. Once they got the .in domain, Barosi was a Rs 1 crore topline brand. “In the last three years, we have touched a mark of Rs 5 crore. The .in domain has helped us grow by about 90 per cent in the last two years, all of which has been organic,” he adds.
Several people in India dream of running a successful homegrown brand, and the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) is helping them realise this dream by providing them with a platform to showcase their business, products and services. Available in 22 Indian languages, the .in and .Bharat domains not only help budding entrepreneurs grow their business but also give them a platform to connect with their consumers closely.
Talking about the future, Durlabh says they are coming up with a new website that will talk about their brand positioning. “Over the last two years, we have found opportunities in challenges, and we have made ourselves agile. The way this digital ecosystem has fuelled our growth, we want to cash in on the opportunity and aspire to establish ourselves as a D2C brand pan-India, as well as across the globe,” he concludes.
