Being close to customer

Gala Brush Ltd. has been associated with cleanliness since 1986. It was a modest start by two young entrepreneur brothers Chandrakant Gala and Mayur Gala. They learnt the ropes of business from their father late Lalji Gala, who ran a trading and manufacturing firm in Mumbai since 1949, mainly dealing in traditional cleaning aids like grass brooms.

Gala Brush Industries was formed in 1986 with a view to produce modern cleaning tools. “Having worked in the father’s business for 13 years, I saw a need for the cleaning tools industry to change from the age-old products to swanky, innovative and user friendly products”, says Chandrakant Gala, Founder and Managing Director of the Company. To bring about this change, they decided to manufacture the modern cleaning tools themselves and serve the market. Gala imported machinery from Germany to begin production. The initial brushes to be manufactured were for body wash, dish wash and cloth wash applications.

German technology ensured consistent quality and fast-production of brushes. Gala was ready to cater to the market with its new product line. But the market was not ready. Sales & Marketing research showed that the Indian market for cleaning tools was premature, largely owing to the awareness and need of cleaning tools. “It was a struggle for the initial years when the shopkeepers would have to be pled to keep the goods for some more time. In some cases, the brushes were not sold for six months”, says Mayur Gala, co-founder and Director, Operations.

Persistence finally paved the way for Gala which, now, has become an established name in home cleaning. Gala® brand has over 130 products in floor mopping, floor sweeping, street sweeping, toilet care, cloth care, floor wiping, kitchen and utensil care and other categories. “This has been the result of being close to the market and understanding the needs of the customer. As stated in our vision statement for the year 2020, Gala wishes to become a USD 1 billion corporation catering to all your cleaning needs”, says Director Jatin Gala

So, what is it that the company is doing to get closer to the vision everyday?

Recently, the company has ventured into the Professional cleaning tools market. The company plans to offer a variety of manual cleaning tools for the professional cleaning purposes. “We keep referring to Clean India Journal for their studies conducted in the Professional Cleaning market. One such study shows that market for Professional Cleaning is around र 2000 crores. Gala had no direct presence in this market until a few years back. Clean India Pulire 2007 was the platform that Gala used to announce its entry into the Professional Cleaning tools market.” says Sanket Gala, Director of Professional Cleaning tools division in Gala.

It has been a modest beginning for Sanket Gala, who has shouldered the responsibility of creating a name for Gala in the professional cleaning market in two years time. The Professional Cleaning tools division offers a variety of products for floor applications like sweeping, mopping, wiping and scrubbing. “To begin with our intention was to cater to all the needs of our institutional clients – house-keeping services, hotels, hospitals, industries, warehouses, airports, corporate offices, municipalities or other civic bodies”, says Sanket. While still serving the other sectors, the focus has now shifted to Facility Management service providers, who have housekeeping services as one of their arms. “We understand more and more facilities are being managed by these FM providers. Hence, it becomes essential to target these clients.”

About the future plans Sanket continues, “We do understand that Gala as a cleaning tools manufacturer, is late in its entry into the professional cleaning tools market in India but, we have been exporting these same products since the inception of the company. Let me share an interesting fact with you here; the municipal corporation in Dubai uses street brushes manufactured by Gala in our plants in Asangaon, Maharashtra. If we continue to deliver the goods and services to our customers as we have done in the household cleaning market, it will just be a matter of time when Gala becomes synonymous with cleaning and hygiene.”