Ajanta bets big on hygiene products

Ajanta, a little known toothpaste brand from Gujarat, which its manufacturers say, is already giving giants such as Hindustan Lever and Colgate-Palmolive a run for their money.

"We are looking at capturing at least 20 per cent marketshare of the Rs 3,000 crore toothpaste industry in two years," claimed the manufacturers "" Ajanta India Ltd.

Coming from anybody else, the claim could have been dismissed as rubbish. However, it comes from a company that set out to change the quartz wristwatch and alarm clock industry a few years ago and single-handedly changed the rules of the game. Prices crashed by as much as 70 per cent in some watch categories and what was considered a stagnant market actually exploded.

The over Rs 200-crore Gujarat-based Ajanta Quartz Group's fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) venture, Ajanta India Ltd, expects to close its first financial year with a turnover of Rs 120 crore even as it claims to have finished the national roll out of all its brands.

Addressing a press conference here, D K Rachh, manager-marketing, Ajanta India, disclosed that the company had already clocked a turnover of Rs 85 crore from its FMCG business till December end. "We entered what was described as a hugely cluttered market with a slew of products in April 2003. Our market study and distribution efforts have paid off," he said.

"We have a range of products under the categories of toothpastes, gel toothpastes, toothbrush, hair-oil, soaps, shampoos, talcum powder and shaving cream. We are priced economically and are pretty open about our pricing strategy," said Rachh explaining the meteoric rise of the company.

About the company's competitive pricing strategy, he said, the company has achieved economies of scale (80 tonnes of toothpaste per day) and did not have the burden of the "baggage of brand royalty fee" etc that troubled multi-nationals. "We decided to keep margins modest and offer the most to the consumer," Rachh maintained.

He said, Ajanta had done the same when it entered the quartz watches market and eventually emerged as the biggest exporter of clocks and wristwatches in the country. Ajanta's manufacturing facility is located at Morbi in Gujarat.

Rachh further said, that the company's R&D effort has been quite productive and it will be introducing various skin-care products as well as variants of soaps, shampoos and hair-oil. He, however, maintained that the toothpaste category with brands of Dento White, Dento Strong and Dento Fresh were the biggest contributors to the company's turnover.

Rachh said, Dento White contributed 70 per cent of the company's turnover and Ajanta planned an increasing focus on its bread and butter brand.

"A blitzkrieg of advertising is due two months from now, wherein we will be using both the electronic as well as print media," he said.

On the distribution network of the company, Rachh said, it had 250 super stockists in the country which serviced 3,500 distributors. "We believe rural India holds great potential and we are also tapping hitherto neglected markets," Rachh admitted.

He said, Ajanta brands were strong in Kerala, West Bengal, Assam, Orissa and Gujarat. "We will now also increase penetration in markets in the north," he said.