Camlin taps premium colours with ColArt

Stationery and art material maker Camlin has entered into an alliance with UK-based ColArt International Holdings through which it will export, distribute and market ColArt's range of art materials in India. ColArt is one of the dominant players in the artist colours segment globally with a market share of 35-40 per cent of the Pound Sterling 220 million market.

Michael Henderson, CEO, ColArt said, "We hope to convert this to a marketing joint venture by early next year, once the market for these products is more established and then to a manufacturing joint venture to cater to both the Indian requirements as well as exports."

At present, the segment in India is reserved for small-scale industries, which prevents Camlin from setting up a manufacturing unit in association with ColArt. When the marketing JV is formed next year, it will be executed through a separate company, with both the partners investing in the venture. Henderson, however, was tightlipped on how much the company would be investing in India over the next few years as, he said, it was still too early to comment.

Dilip Dandekar, chairman & MD, Camlin, said that the company would be importing more sophisticated products from UK and France and value range from China.

ColArt has brands like Winsor & Newton and Reeves from Britain, Lefranc Buorgeios and Conte from France and Liquitex and Tulip from America, all of which it will be bringing to India through the new arrangement. Though Camlin already has an existing range of artist's colours under the Camel brand in India and is supposed to be the largest player in the segment, the ColArt products will be catering to consumers, who want higher quality products.

These products will be priced 20-25 per cent above the existing Camlin range. Apart from colours, the JV will also market art material like canvas. Dandekar said that ColArt brands would be retailed through 250 speciality fine art product outlets in the country.