A passionate brand marketing advocate, strategist, operational specialist, and human catalyst – Ahamed Aroos is a man of many talents. He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Director of Rainco Private Limited and has worked in corporate management, sales, and marketing for over 21 years. He embarked on his corporate career in the year 2000 and has experience working in the Lifestyle, Healthcare, FMCG, and Telecom sectors in Sri Lanka, UK, Columbia, Brazil, and Indonesia. Aroos’s successful corporate tenure representing multinational companies such as Reckitt Benckiser PLC, Lycatel-UK, Eli-Lilly, and local conglomerates such as Hemas & Rainco. Succeeding from his previous role as COO, his current position as the CEO of Rainco is the culmination of a passionate journey that drives him to lead the company towards achieving its vision of establishing a global footprint within the lifestyle accessories industry – adding to Sri Lanka’s extensive list of homegrown corporate success stories.
Since its inception, Rainco has grown from being a small-scale umbrella manufacturing company to an organization that caters to a growing international presence and continues to set benchmarks in the local industry. Entrepreneurship is in the DNA of Rainco, the Founder and Chairman of Rainco, S. L. M. Fausz started the company as an entrepreneurial venture in 1977 with just 5 employees. Aroos believes that entrepreneurs are individuals who are driven to make an impact, and it is essential that they are decisive and responsible to succeed. He further shared the sentiment that entrepreneurship requires you to constantly sharpen your skills, learn from your mistakes and take continuous action until you execute your ideas commercially while maintaining faith in the idea and purpose behind the endeavour. Moreover, at Rainco, Aroos and his team ensures that they follow through with their chairman’s vision by being conscious of their purpose of enriching lives and supporting local communities. They strongly believe in spreading goodness and participating in goodwill for the benefit of the country.
When asked about Rainco’s strategy, Aroos highlighted the fundamentals of how they use the company’s core values that brace the framework of their business structure and this forms the bedrock of their business strategy. Every consumer interaction is guided by the promise to deliver a product that will not fail when they need it the most. Rainco produces its products at the highest quality, focusing on usage under all circumstances, and they ensure that it’s widely distributed so customers can get what they need when they need it; Rainco has the largest market penetration for its category of products. Ahamed Aroos also mentioned that his team strives to provide the customer with new designs that are unique and stylish but also functional and structurally perfect. Rainco has a design team that produces thematic designs in colours that celebrate our local heritage.
As they are a company, who serves fashion accessories and lifestyle-related products, they prioritize convenience to suit the increasingly busy and on-the-go lifestyles of their target market. Consumers expect more from products, preferring those that seamlessly integrate into and enhance their lives. With this in mind, Rainco has, in its portfolio, offerings such as C-Wiser – an umbrella specifically designed for vehicle users. Another trend they see is the need for healthy living, where consumers are taking a more active role in decisions that affect their health and are choosing products accordingly. Thus, came about the sun-proof umbrella which is built with ‘Sun Protech’ technology. Rainco understood that people use the same umbrella for the rain and the sun, and used an insight to identify that the technical needs for the two are different. When people are under the sun, they want a light umbrella that counters the heat and UV rays, which is quite harmful to the skin; Which is why Rainco produces umbrellas using fabric that offers 99% protection from the heat and UV rays.
When asked about his thoughts on the pandemic, Aroos stated that certainly, the pandemic has brought about changes in the consumer goods sector. According to predictions by global research firms, it is stated that the Covid-19 pandemic will define the consumption patterns for at least the next decade. As consumers start to think and live differently, their buying patterns change-making way for new consumer habits, that will go well beyond this crisis, permanently changing what consumers value, how and where they shop, and how they live and work. He went on to say, consumers are becoming more conscious of their health and wellbeing; one of the surveys, conducted by Accenture revealed that 79% of consumers are increasingly looking at products that will increase focus on health. They are also becoming more supportive towards local brands, as they are developing affection towards buying local products. Surveys suggest globally, 46% of consumers will increasingly buy locally sourced goods and advocate local brands as opposed to patronizing international brands. Consumer goods have also been opened up to the opportunity of tapping into occasions in and around the home by creating new experiences, as a greater number of consumers are now seeking comfort in their home environments like never before.
“If you believe in the Invisible, then you can achieve the Impossible”
Rainco takes pride in creating a Sri Lankan legacy – ranked 6th among the global markets in this category. As a relatively young brand, they were able to transform a category and its perception around user behavior. Aroos also stated that they aim to increase revenue contribution from exports by at least 20-30% over the next three years; seeking possibilities of setting up regional hubs to benefit from better manufacturing facilities in Africa and Asia as part of their mid-term expansion plans. Aroos highlighted the opportunity created by the emerging middle-class as a key driver in the local market, the same as many markets around the world. These emerging consumers in Sri Lanka are climbing the economic ladder and with it, they’re bringing new levels of disposable income and spending habits. Rainco has also recognized that as the newer generations enter the marketplace, the definition of a “product” is transforming from a single-use transaction, into an ongoing relationship between the consumer and the product brand – which is why Rainco strives to go above and beyond for its patrons.