VLCC, the home-grown beauty and slimming services brand, has set up a manufacturing facility in Bangladesh with an investment of Rs 50 crore.
This will help the company tap into the mushrooming beauty business in the neighbouring country.
Mukesh Luthra, Chairman, VLCC, said, “We try to customise products for a specific region. The facility will not only cut our logistics and inventory costs but also help grow our presence in the sub-continent.”
VLCC already operates three beauty and slimming centres in Bangladesh. “The market is nascent and we are looking to scale up our presence to five centres in that country.”
The new unit is coming up at BSCIC Industrial Area, Jamalpur, roughly 140 km north of Dhaka town. It is expected to start commercial operations later this month. At present, VLCC’s personal care products are sold in Bangladesh through modern trade outlets and the company’s slimming, beauty and fitness centres are in Dhaka.
Luthra said the combined value of the Bangladesh market for fairness creams, face wash, scrubs, sun-care and hair colour products is currently estimated at almost 655 crore Bangladeshi taka – almost three times the value that existed in 2008.
Other home-grown brands such as Dabur, Emami are already present in Bangladesh.
Luthra said the company was also looking to set up a manufacturing facility in Bahrain. “It will be a strategic market for us as we can directly export to the US from Bahrain,” he added.
VLCC, which closed 2012-13 with a turnover of over Rs 700 crore, is targeting Rs 1,000 crore in two years. It operates through 300 locations across 121 cities in 16 countries. Its cosmetics and wellness products sell at over 80,000 retail outlets.
It has been expanding its presence through the inorganic route and has picked up stake in Malaysian and Singapore-based firms. Last month, VLCC bought a majority stake in Global Vantage Innovative Group, a Singapore-based high-end personal care, dermatology products and cosmetics maker.