Satya Sai Baba is the brand name used by the Indian incense company
Shrinivas Sugandhalaya of Bangalore. Their incense sticks and cones are high quality; hand-rolled from a masala of well chosen crushed fragrant ingredients around a charcoal base. The company use
halmaddi, a traditional fragrant resin, though the use may have changed or declined over the years according to some users. They make the world's most famous and acclaimed incense,
Satya Nag Champa.
The
Shrinivas Sugandhalaya company was founded
in 1964 by Shri Satyam Setty from small premises in Mumbai.
It has expanded to now employ approximately 2,500 workers in
manufacturing facilities in Bangalore and Mumbai, and since the death of
Setty in 2000 or 1999, the company has been run by his two sons, Balkrishna Setty and Nagaraj Setty. At an unclear time in 2014, and for unclear reasons, the partnership between the sons was split, both retaining use of the name and logo of the original Satya company. Nagraj Setty formed Shrinivas Sugandhalaya LLP in Mumbai on 8 Sept 2014. Balkrishna Setty formed Shrinivas Sugandhalaya (BNG) LLP in Bangalore on 21 Nov 2014.
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| Balkrishna Setty's HQ in Bangalore |
According
to some websites (not verified as fact) Balkrishna had been involved in the manufacture of the incenses, had worked closely with his father, and had personally developed
Super Hit. The Bangalore site had been the centre of the manufacturing for the original Satya company. Nagraj had been in charge of distribution, and had all the distribution contacts. The Mumbai site had been the centre of distribution for the original Satya company. In Dec 2016
a case was filed in
at least one state court in America by Balkrishna Setty (Shrinivas Sugandhalaya (BNG) LLP) alleging unfair practises by Nagraj Setty (Shrinivas Sugandhalaya LLP). The claims are that Nagraj Setty sometimes uses machines to make incense, while Balkrishna Setty only uses hand rolling methods; the claim is that customers prefer hand rolled incense, and so Balkrishna Setty's incense is more popular. In order to mislead people, and to suppress competition, Nagraj Setty advertised his products using Balkrishna Setty's Bangalore address. He has also sent out cease and desist notices to all USA distributors, claiming that Balkrishna Setty is infringing on his trademarks and copyrights. I don't have any information on the outcome of the court case - I don't know if it has been heard yet.
I will be endeavouring where possible to indicate on my reviews which of the two companies was responsible for the incense being reviewed.
As of 2018, the two brothers have developed new logos, which clearly indicate which is responsible for the product in the packets. Recent incense from Nagraj which uses the new logo is of better quality as he is now using workers in Bangalore, some of whom may have experience of working in his father's incense factory.
2014 was the year that the two brothers split Satya into two companies, with Nagaraj, who had been in charge of distribution, initially commissioning the production of the sticks he sold until he later established his own incense factory in Bangalore (is this accurate?), the city where Satya production had been based since the 1960s.
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Top left: original logo - Top right: Mumbai 1st
Bottom left: Bangalore - Bottom right: Mumbai
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A Nagaraj logo with the Bangalore address
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The new logos and websites:
Nagraj Setty's Shrinivas Sugandhalaya LLP
The distributor
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| Mumbai - Nagraj |
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Balkrishna Setty's Shrinivas Sugandhalaya (BNG) LLP
The manufacturer
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| Bengaluru - Balkrishna |
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| Previous logo, registered 2014 |
The British incense and ethnic goods distributor
Aargee contracted Satya to make a number of incense sticks under the Aargee and Stamford brand. In 2011,
Aargee developed 12 new fragrances with Shrinivas Sugandhalaya (link dead) to be sold exclusively through the Stamford brand. The two companies have listed
24 fragrances they make together. (link dead).
There is occasional talk of "fake" Satya, and posts on Reddit which tell people how to spot such "fakes". In response to one such post I wrote this [slightly edited]:
I've heard a variety of stories over the years regarding Satya, and it's difficult to judge what is really going on. Some people say this, and some people say that. Here is my understanding.
The halmaddi story I've heard a few times. I'm pretty sure that one started when ORS talked about a lack of halmaddi in Satya incense being the reason for a drop in quality. I think by now most people know that Nagraj - who had control of distribution in America, started his own production, and it took him a few years to get it right. And I think by now most people know that halmaddi isn't a scent ingredient in itself, but a fixative that helps disperse and prolong a scent. Other fixatives work just as well. And halmaddi has been and continues to be used by several incense companies (of varying quality and skill) in a range of incense scents, not just Nag Champa. Halmaddi is not the only fixative - benzoin, gum Arabic, vanilla, and frankincense are also used as fixatives, and each will have their supporters. The most widespread is DEP (commonly sold as "agarbathi oil"), as it is cheap and effective. A move from any of the natural fixatives to DEP is widely regarded as a cost saving move. In general (though not 100% accurate), if the incense has a lot of black smoke when you light it, it is likely that it uses DEP.
An Indian government restriction on harvesting halmaddi resin did take place. And Satya's quality (primarily in America where Nagraj Setty had a business arrangement with Raj Mathur, who imported Satya via his E. Expo (Song of India) company which has had an office in America since 1989) did drop. Meanwhile, Balkrishna Setty, who was in charge of Satya production in Bangalore, continued to make and sell original Satya incense outside of America. What happened, I think, is that people in America thought the drop in quality was due to the halmaddi restriction, rather than that Nagraj was making and selling poorer quality Satya incense. In a sense, it was probably correct to say that Satya incense sold in America at that time didn't use halmaddi. It most likely used DEP.
As regards the "fake". I have wondered once or twice if a Satya I bought was fake because this Reddit (and other places) does mention "fake Satya" from time to time. And it is possible. But it's difficult to track it down or prove anything because the two brothers have issued a bewildering range of different designs over the past 20 years. The Earth logo is interesting. I have seen the C (copyrighted) and the R (registered trade mark) versions. I've not made a study of it, but my assumption is that neither are fakes, but just different print set ups. My understanding is that a logo can be copyrighted quite easily, and that would apply to all territories, but registering a trade mark has to be done country by country. But the way that stock is bought and sold and transferred around the world, I wouldn't be surprised if they get mixed up. If doing a black-market fake copy, it would be cheaper and easier to copy an existing real packet than to try to mock one up, and then make deliberate changes. My assumption these days is that without clear evidence of a Satya being a fake, then it would be a product issued by one or other of the brothers. Relax, light it up, and enjoy. I think the odds of it being a black market fake are low.
The labelling of Satya is interesting. There has been a long-running court case regarding this. When Nagraj decided not to use the incense made by his brother, he continued to use the old packets. As he owned half the company, he was within his rights to do this. Two addresses were on the packets - his in Mumbai, and his brother Balkrishna's in Bangalore. And both addresses were true and accurate as belonging to the Satya partnership. Balkrishna changed logo and business name to make it clear he was not associated with Nagraj's incense. So any incense with BNG in the name is made in the original factory - you may say that any Satya incense with BNG in the company name is genuine - regardless of any other stylings on the packet, as Balkrishna has continued to change his packaging, such as adding the Earth logo, to indicate that his incense is different to Nagraj's. Unfortunately these changes have not been understood by buyers in America, so Nagraj had to start the court case. His argument is that because the incense sold by Nagraj was of inferior quality it was damaging the reputation of Satya, and so impacting on Balkrishna's business. In addition, there was clear evidence presented to the court that Nagraj and Mathur were writing to distributors in America and UK telling them to stop selling Balkrishna's incense. Copy of letter send to Ian Snow (who used to import and distribute Satya in the UK - he doesn't any more):
“What I have done in USA is very appropriate. I sent that letter, the one I sent to you earlier, to all the distributors/importers in USA, that I know of, and I talked to some of the importers and distributors not to get involved in this mass. They have agreed to me. Those who had ordered from Bangalore, have cancelled their orders. I believe I have total success in this matter. Now we are trying to the same in U.K. and Mr. Nagraj is ready to help and absorb costs.”
Nasty stuff, eh?
The court case was opened in 2016, and an out-of-court settlement was reached this January 2025, though I think the case is not fully closed yet. Meanwhile there are packets in circulation from different years and regions, so it is confusing, which is where I think the "fake" claims come from. But if a packet has BNG or the Earth logo then it is made in the original factory. If it has neither, and has the “1/9, 8th Cross, Magadi Rd, Bengaluru" address then it may be an older original, or it could be the earlier batches of incense sold by Nagraj. You will know when you open the packet. If the sticks inside are hand-rolled and fluffy, it is the original. If the sticks are smooth and machine-made it is Nagraj. The originals smell nice, the early Nagraj smell not so good. If the packets do not have BNG nor the “1/9, 8th Cross, Magadi Rd, Bengaluru" address, then they are later Nagraj, and these are likely to be hand-rolled and fluffy and nice.
I hope that helps.
Reviews
*= Review over five years old, so may not be reliable |
Nov 2019 - Score: 40=* |
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July 2020 - Score: 35
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Mar 2021 - Score: 33↑ |
Scents: 38
Highest score: 48
Lowest score: 18
Average: 36
