Berger Paints - Rural Research Partner 2012

Rural Illumina is less than a week away. As such how could we have forgot the writeup on our research partner - Berger Paints. Below you will find a very interesting description on what this company is all about by a fellow Illuminati from PG12 -

Berger made a humble beginning in 1760, when a young German chemist, Lewis Berger, perfected a new process for making the colour Prussian Blue. Considering that it was the colour of most military uniforms then, the pigment assumed great importance, and the business, a great thrust.

Soon, the company moved from the production of dyes and pigments to the production of paints and coatings.

Hadfiled's (India) Limited was a small paint company based in Kolkata, established in 1923. In 1947, British Paints (Holdings) Limited, U.K acquired Hadfield's (India) Limited which later became a part of the worldwide BERGER group in 1983 and thereby acquired its present name ‘Berger Paints India’. Its present business revenue is more than Rs 2400 crores.

Berger India Ltd. is currently ranked as second largest on the basis of consolidated sales turnover in Indian paint industry.

They offer the following products:

1.       Home owners –

·         Interior wall coatings

·         Exterior wall coatings

·         Berger Metal & Wood paints

·         Living green (environment friendly products

2.       Industrial –

·         General Industrial & Automotive coatings

·         Powder coatings

·         Protective Coatings

It also sells items like color fan deck, wall stencils, interior color combo book, exterior book etc. online via its website.

Berger has come out with some wonderful commercials on television in the past. Take a look -

As part of its promotion strategy, Berger came out with an interesting billboard (shown below) which became very popular and garnered a lot of attention -

Berger: Natural Finish Colors

Fun Facts

Berger paints have been a part of some memorable projects such as Akshardham temple, New Delhi and the Cognizant building, Chennai.

Tata Nano, a milestone in automotive engineering gets its coat of paint using berger automotive paints. So do trucks from the Tata stable, and also Hero cycles. Even the ONGC projects use Berger paints. That goes a long way in showing what reputation the company enjoys in India, not just among the people, but also the corporates as well as the government.

Awards & Recognition

Berger has won many awards for its outstanding performance,superior technology and great HR practices. Builder Information Bureau (BIB) has awarded Berger Paints India Ltd., the leadership award in the paint category for the year 2011-12.

Its an ISO  9001 and ISO 14001 certified company and has won many awards in Human resource management.

The Future

As India continues its success story, more and more people in villages are moving up the social-economic ladder. The attitude of rural people towards painting and decoration of their houses has seen a significant shift. Today, they take as much care in making their homes look good as anybody else. Berger India senses a great opportunity to gain a foothold in this still largely untapped market, and we are sure that with their  huge experience, great products, and valuable market insights, they will succeed in their venture.

Welcoming them on board for the market research and wishing them all the best.

Beaming with delight

Illuminati