Marico to discontinue all old Mediker products

Mumbai-based Marico Industries Limited, a leading fast moving consumer group (FMCG) player, would be withdrawing its anti-lice brand Mediker in its present form and replacing it with a new Mediker in the market.

Re-launching the Mediker anti-lice treatment, Saugata Gupta, head of marketing Marico Industries Ltd, said, "The addition of natural ingredients to the original formulation would help not only cure the problem of lice but act as a conditioner of hair."

In the new formulation the company has added three new ingredients "� neem, camphor, and coconut oil to make it natural and more effective. Gupta said that from the time the company had acquired the brand from Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1999, the sales of Mediker had doubled. According to Gupta, the new product was FDA approved and said that the company had applied for the patent rights of the product.

The products are available in 50 ml and 10 ml sachets priced at Rs 32.62 and Rs 6.71 respectively and are available in two forms, oil and shampoo based.

The company's turnover for the financial year ended March 31, 2004 was Rs 885 crore. Out of the total turnover of the company, the company's flag ship brand, Parachute Coconut Oil contributed between Rs 250 crore and Rs 300 crore and edible oils contributed around Rs 200 crore.

During the last fiscal the medical franchise division of the company contributed around Rs 20 crore to the total turnover.

The company's International Business Group (IBG) is one of the top three among the Indian consumer goods companies. Marico reaches more than 15 countries in the Middle East and the Asian subcontinent. The IBG contributes around nine per cent of the company's revenues.