FMCG firms shift focus to soaps

After shampoos and oral care, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are betting big on soaps this year.

The soaps segment is expected to grow by 15 per cent this year even as companies introduce more and more specialised products to create a differentiation in the market, according to industry analysts.

For instance, Dabur India has identified a strategy to target the burgeoning over Rs 4,500 crore soaps market in the country. The idea, company officials say, is to expand Dabur's presence in the market by focusing on the health and beauty segment and leveraging on the company's herbal heritage.

The company is also planning to introduce a new line of herbal and ayurvedic soaps under the Dabur brand and expand the range of soaps under its Vatika brand with newer variants. The company already has soaps under the Dabur brand in the international market.

Likewise, Wipro Consumer Care, which claims to be the third-largest brand in soaps right now, is also looking at a slew of soaps launch under its Santoor and Chandrika brands.

"We see the popular category in soaps, which is typically priced between Rs 12 and 16 for 100 gm, growing at double the market growth and we would therefore look at launching our new soap variants in this category. Product differentiation is also one area that we would focus on as it is important to offer specialised products to stand out in the hugely crowded soaps market," said Kumar Chander, vice-president, marketing, Wipro Consumer Care.

Dabur too is targeting the popular segment of the soap market with its products.

"The customer base for soaps is very promiscuous. So you have to keep building novelty here, and in the case of Vatika, we have been doing it through introduction of variants," said Dabur India CEO Sunil Duggal.

Earlier this year, Godrej Consumer announced the launch of Vigil, positioned as a health soap, clearly an indication of how companies are battling to create a differentiation for their products.

Dabur too is betting big on the health range this year. Its new ayurvedic soap, scheduled for rollout in the second quarter of this financial year, is expected to have a different profile in the sense that it would be built on the ayurvedic heritage and on the health platform instead of the plain cosmetic push.

According to industry estimates, Hindustan Unilever controls about 60 per cent of the soaps market, with brands including Lifebuoy, Lux, Rexona, Breeze and Hamam. After HUL comes Nirma and Godrej with their respective brands. The medicated soap brands include Dettol and Margo.

The segment is one of the biggest FMCG categories in the country, with soaps forming the largest pie of the FMCG market. Bathing and toilet soaps contribute around 30 per cent to the soaps market. The per capita consumption of toilet or bathing soap in the country is 800 gm, whereas it is 6.5 kg in the US, 4 kg in China and 2.5 kg in Indonesia.