German toy-maker Simba Toys is gearing up to enter new markets in South East Asia. It has plans of setting up a manufacturing base in India to serve as an export hub for the region. After facing slowdown in its home country,the company is targeting growth from emerging economies.

“The toy industry is not impacted by the slowdown and this is the right time to enter retailing in India and the emerging markets. Once we have a manufacturing base, India would be the hub for South East Asia, West Asia and North Africa. We would be looking at manufacturing plush products and board games for these markets,” says Ben Nabert, Chief Executive Officer India, Simba Toys.

Growing at 25 per cent in the last three years, the company claims to have broken even and is now in the process of practising due diligence in terms of establishing a manufacturing site in India.

As Nabert says, “Growth rates have been flat in Germany and even negative in countries such as Spain and Italy. Today, we are looking at markets in South East Asia where we have still not penetrated.”

Simba Toys has the largest market share in Germany, followed by France and Russia.

In India, the company has also been dropping prices to make the toys more affordable. “We have been subsidising prices by nearly 20 per cent and will be correcting prices according to the needs of the market. We want Indian consumers to enjoy the Simba brand. There is a huge demand for high quality toys in India,” said Nabert. With toys pegged between Rs 50 and Rs 5,000, its largest selling product is the fashion doll brand Steffi Love along with board games.

After being a wholesale distributor for the past three years, it has now appointed a master franchise, Exelixi Management Company, to set up 45 franchise stores under the Simba brand. It has also set up e-commerce operations along with several partners and expects these to form a sustainable revenue generation platform in future.

Purvita@thehindu.co.in

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