Interview
How Rare Planet is giving local heroes a global showcase
Prologue: Rare Planet is India’s largest airport retailer in the gifts, souvenirs and handicrafts sector. But just as important as its commercial success is the empowering impact Rare Planet’s business model has on artisans and their communities nationwide.
The company, founded in 2019 by young entrepreneur Ranodeep Saha and experienced retail executive Vijay Kumar, provides employment opportunities for more than 10,000 artisans across India while preserving their craftsmanship, which has been handed down through generations.
Since its inauguration, Rare Planet will have opened an impressive 75 stores in Indian airports by year-end. Now it plans to take the concept global, repeating the formula of working with each country’s artisans to sustain, champion and advance their skills and heritage while simultaneously giving back to local communities.
The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie, a staunch advocate of the concept of sense of place through his working career, talked to Saha and Kumar about their journey to date in India and the international sojourn that lies ahead.
First India, next the world: Ranodeep Saha (left) and Vijay Kumar
Get ready for a compelling tale of entrepreneurialism blended with social conscience. An extraordinary narrative that has seen a start-up retailer go from a single airport store in January 2021 to an anticipated 75 by year-end, with many more in the pipeline.
Welcome to Rare Planet, a Kolkata-based specialist travel retailer that has brought four concepts – Rare Planet (Indian handicrafts &gifts); Sitara (women’s accessories and more); 2M Minimart (Convenience retail); and Khilona (kids’ toys from India) – to airports across the nation.
“We are in almost every part of the country and we only operate physical stores at airports,” says Co-Founder Ranodeep Saha, who surely ranks as one of travel retail’s youngest entrepreneurs.
While studying for a Bachelor of Technology at the Indian Institute of Information Technology in Kolkata, Saha began formulating a business idea based on the noble notion of championing India’s artisans.
After he graduated in 2018, Saha decided it was time to push on with his concept. That same year he teamed up with Vijay Kumar, an experienced retailer who had held senior roles with high-end brands such as Swarovski, Lladro, Rosenthal and Versace and was working at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi for an artisan and ethnic products retailer.
An agreement was quickly struck to open an inaugural store at Kolkata (Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International) Airport, only to be stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic which first struck India in March 2020. But you can’t keep the combination of a passionate young entrepreneur and a seasoned retailer down and the following year the roll-out duly began.
Rare Planet offers a rich and diverse representation of Indian craftsmanship at Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru
In the meantime, the pair appeared on Shark Tank India, a reality programme in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business models to a panel of hard-nosed potential investors. Their concept proved a smash hit, leading to investment that has subsequently helped Rare Planet gain rapid momentum.
Rapid? Make that extraordinary. “We had 50 stores at the end of last year and we should end the year with 75 – all in India and only at airports,” says Saha. “When we started, we were like four or five people. Today we are 350 people.”
Vijay Kumar praises the supportive approach of Indian airport operators in underpinning the company’s meteoric rise. “From that first store in 2021, we have now covered almost all major airports in India. Bangalore International Airport Limited, in particular, helped, guided and nurtured us. That is one of the key reasons we are what we are today.
“In 2023, in a single year, we opened around 32 stores – almost three a month. This year we are opening another 20 stores. As of today, I’m working on six stores. In the next 45 days, we’ll open another ten stores. That’s the speed we are going at.”
Tailored offer: Delivering a compelling sense of place at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad
Business with meaning
Such dizzying numbers represent a hugely ambitious roll-out. But both Saha and Kumar insist Rare Planet is as much a social cause as a business and one rooted in artistic and economic integrity. The company has almost 10,000 artisans across the country contributing to its product offering, helping to make a huge difference to often underprivileged communities.
“We are not just retailers who procure some products and sell them,” says Kumar. “Our number one criterion is to understand art and craft. I always underline that with my team. It’s not about selling. It is about the experience – what we create through the product quality and service so that people carry with them a memory more than a product.
“So to have come so far in 36 months means we have put our heart and soul into it. It’s not just a money-making business. We want to be the kind of company which is about the people and the artisans.”
Saha and Kumar remain the dominant shareholders with a combined 70% ownership, backed by Shark Tank investors and others who saw the concept’s rich potential. Such faith has been well rewarded with the company profitable right from the get-go, Saha points out.
That commercial success has been helped by a strong online presence and having a nicely balanced portfolio spread across the four concepts mentioned earlier – Rare Planet, Sitara, 2M Minimart and Khilona.
The partners describe Rare Planet as “a place of talent”, one that sells an eclectic array of products, including mugs, copper bottles, cups and plates, handmade and hand-painted by local artisans. Specialities include Kulhads – handleless clay drinking or eating vessels – much-revered in Indian society.
At Rare Planet the Kulhads are redefined through hand-painting and the promise of durability. The same process is followed for all products, including cake and nut bowls and even notebooks.
Capturing the essence of Kolkata at the airport
Dreaming big
Rare Planet also provides a space for empowerment. “Most of the artists are women. They make beautiful products every day with passion, hard work, love and care,” the company declares on its website. “The icing on the cake is that Rare Planet is contributing to the education funds for their children. A fair share of money is contributed to this noble cause so that people dream big.”
The company’s other concepts are also flourishing. “In India, you see tier-two and tier-three airports are growing very fast because of the rapid growth of aviation in this country,” Saha comments. “So with 2M Minimart, we have been pioneering the opening of convenience retail format stores at these airports.
“Sitara is a women’s fashion jewellery and accessories brand similar to Accessorize in the UK and we have some ten stores across India. We also have an Indian kids’ toy format called Khilona. So these are the categories we deal in, ranging from destination merchandise to personal care to toys to our fragrance brands.”
Creating an eye-catching canvas for artisans at Chandigarh International Airport
Going global
As Rare Planet gears up for its next stage of growth, the company is looking both home and abroad for opportunities. “There are multiple new airports coming on in India and they have all invited us to present,” says Kumar, noting the country’s huge potential in terms of domestic and international passenger growth and related infrastructure creation.
The company is thinking big with several offshore markets in its sights. “We want to be able to do in Asian countries, across the subcontinent, in GCC markets and others what a Lagardère or a WHSmith has done,” says Saha. “We look at what other travel retailers are doing across the globe and we want to achieve something similar.”
Target include other Asia Pacific countries such as Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Nepal and Bangladesh while the Middle East will be a prime focus, Saha observes.
“We want to give a platform to the artisans of the world,” he comments.“So 70% of the products for those specific markets will be sourced from that country. We have a very strong research and development team. They will go to each country and take two to three months to research and develop products. The balance of 30% of the common products will be sent from India.
“So when we talk about Singapore or any other country, we want to capture the local essence of that country. We want to paint ourselves in the colour of that country and produce the magic which we have been able to in India. India is a very difficult country. If you’re able to do it here, you’ll be able to do it anywhere else in the world.”
Rare Planets’ four concepts
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The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 337 | 11 September 2024
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 14 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (Moodie International Ltd). © All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the Publisher. To find out more visit www.moodiedavittreport.com and to subscribe, please e-mail kristyn@moodiedavittreport.com