Competition in the private brands segment, especially in the snacks and personal care, is set to intensify with the Future Group planning a slew of launches by next month coinciding with the onset of the festival season, when consumer spending usually rises.
The Kishore Biyani-led group plans to retail products such as jams, pasta and Chinese noodles under its Tasty Treat brand and sanitary napkins under Caremate, through its pan-India network of Food Bazaar, Big bazaar, KB's and Aadhaar chains.
"We plan a series of launches by next month in the personal-care and snacks categories. These would be jams, pasta and Chinese noodles under our Tasty Treat brand and sanitary napkins under Caremate," Future Group's Business Head (Brands) Devendra Chawla told PTI here.
The private brands, currently contributes about 20-25 per cent of the company's food business and the target is to increase it to 30 per cent over the next 18-months, he said.
Last fiscal, Future Group recorded a total turnover of Rs 10,000 crore, of which retail contributed around Rs 7,000 crore. Of this, the food business' contribution was around 40-45 per cent.
The company already has 8 private brands such as Tasty Treat in processed food, Premium Harvest in commodities, Fresh & Pure in dairy, John Miller in men's grooming category with deodorants, Clean Mate in home-care, Caremate in personal hygiene, Ektaa in community foods and Sach in oral care.
"Our focus will be to enter the lesser penetrated categories, which will grow with proliferation of modern trade. Barring a few, several categories in India are still under-branded and our endeavour is to participate more in the Indian consumption story," Chawla said.
The company's strategy going forward would be to extend its existing product lines in each category, he said, adding that it plans to launch a new brand by the end of this year.
The company has partnered with Disney for leveraging its characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck to launch its pasta and noodles range under Tasty Treat.
In the last one year, the company has launched several products such as corn flakes, soups, cookies, chips, cheese balls and toothbrushes under Tasty Treat and Sach brand.
Recently, most FMCG players such as HUL and GSK Consumer Care have launched fortified and healthier noodles given its popularity among kids and also the health factor.
Future Group, with its strong distribution muscle, is likely to give a good run for their money to existing players such as HUL, P&G, Dabur and Godrej, in the personal-care segment.
The company has 135 Big Bazaar outlets and 70 Food Bazaars pan-India which gives it a strong distribution reach and which the company plans to leverage effectively for its private brand business.
