Godrej to push Rapidol brands in Africa

After having acquired the hair care business of Rapidol in South Africa, Godrej Consumer plans to strengthen its brands in other countries in the region.

Rapidol owns hair colour and hair care brands "� Inecto and Soflene "� which have a 70 per cent share in the ethnic hair colour market in South Africa and a 30 per cent share in the overall hair colour market in the country. The hair colour market in the country is growing in early double digits.

Hoshedar Press, president, Godrej Consumer, said, "At present, there are a lot of growth opportunities in the African continent, which the company will focus on."

The Inecto brand is owned by Keyline Brands, a company Godrej Consumer acquired last year in the UK, and by Rapidol in all African countries.

Press ruled out plans to bring either of the brands to India at present. Meanwhile, the company may introduce its own brands in the region using Rapidol's sales and distribution network.

Apart from South Africa, the products are distributed across Angola, Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Seychelles and Madagascar among others.

Press said that the opportunities for the brand in these markets was still tremendous which is why they would look at growing the brand within these countries as well as explore entering other countries in Africa.

Rapidol, which posted sales of Rs 33 crore in 2005, is expected to contribute significantly to the company's topline and bottom line. The company's PBT margins are 18-19 per cent, and it is a profitable company with cash on its books.

While Press was tightlipped about how much it would contribute to the Godrej balance sheet this year, he did say that the company planned to grow the brand very fast.

Godrej would also use some of its manufacturing best practices to improve the product offering from Rapidol.