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The Himalaya Drug Company is eyeing the organic segment for personal care products in India with its Botanique brand, a readymade body care range catering to international markets.
“The market for organic products is getting big in India and it should be a matter of time before we bring our range to India. Currently, there are no economies of scale and the cost of manufacturing the product is prohibitive, but we do have the technology and range ready to enter India once the market expands,” said Philipe Haydon, CEO, The Himalaya Drug Company.
Botanique is Himalaya’s range of body care products made with active ingredients that are organically produced, and are being manufactured at the company’s facilities in Bangalore. The range is currently being marketed in the US and Europe.
Meanwhile, in the domestic market, the pharma cum FMCG company is gearing up to compete with the multinationals in categories such as toothpaste and body lotions with its ‘herbal’ composition. Having extended its toothpaste franchise with four new variants recently, it intends taking on the biggies in the same segment.
As Haydon says, “We intend competing against market leaders such as Colgate and HUL in the toothpaste segment, rather than local and regional players, as we believe the quality and pricing of our toothpaste is on par.” With new variants such as Sparkling White, Sensitive, and Active Fresh, Himalaya toothpaste is now poised to garner market share.
“The urban toothpaste category is estimated at Rs 3,500 crore, growing at 20 per cent. We intend capturing at least 10 per cent of this market with a turnover of Rs 200 crore in the next two years in the toothpaste category,” he said.
Its recent entry into the Rs 750-crore body lotion category will also see it pitted against established brands such as Vaseline, Nivea, Lakme and Ponds.
However, it is the face wash category where Himalaya has bagged its biggest share till date at 17 per cent and emerged as the number two player (with its purifying neem face wash) after HUL.
Compared to the MNCs, The Himalaya Drug Company does not have adequate presence at the kirana stores. “While we reach out to nearly 94 per cent of medical shops and 5,500 modern trade outlets, we are not present at kirana stores,” added Haydon.
In future, there are plans to enter premium categories in skincare such as anti-aging and whitening creams. “We are positioned as a head-to-toe problem solutions company with a range of herbal products. Currently, there are almost 80 new products being researched which would include premium products as well,” he said. With sales still skewed towards its pharma business (60 per cent), the company expects equal contribution from its pharma and FMCG businesses in future.
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