Cholayil to enter male grooming, hair care

Personal care products company Cholayil is eyeing the hair care and male grooming segments as potential expansion areas. MC Anand Kumar, senior vice-president - sales and marketing, Dorcas Market Makers, the marketing arm of Cholayil, said both these categories were vibrant and fast growing. The company might look at entering both or one of these segments sometime next year, he said.

The male grooming segment is fast gaining visibility with companies such as Hindustan Lever, Emami and L'oreal entering the space in the past year.

Meanwhile Medimix, the 36-year-old flagship brand of the company, will be used for the skincare segment foray.

"We will build on the ayurveda proposition of the Medimix brand and introduce skincare products under it," said Kumar. He, however, did not reveal by when these products would be launched.

For the first time since its launch, the soap was repackaged earlier this year to widen its appeal. Variants targetting specific skin types were also introduced.

Currently a Rs 140 crore brand, Kumar said the company was aiming to make Medimix a Rs 235 crore brand within the next two years.

Apart from this, the Rs 160 crore company is also looking at making Cuticura a dominant brand in the women's personal grooming space in India. Kumar said that the company would be exploring various options where Cuticura could serve as the umbrella brand for the company's foray into the personal care category.

While Kumar was tightlipped about what the new product ranges would be, the next launch is likely to be a roll on deodorant, a further expansion in the deos category where the company just launched Cuticura DeO2 last month.