SFP Sons launches cosmetics in Chandigarh

Chennai-based SFP Sons (India) Private Ltd today launched a range of cosmetics called 'Silent Valley' in Chandigarh. It was a national launch and the company zeroed in on Chandigarh because cosmetics had a good market here.

Talking to Business Standard, the chief executive officer of the company, Kailash V Sawant, said north India accounted for 60 per cent of the market for beauty products and Punjab almost a third of that.

The company started business in 1992 as a 100 per cent export-oriented unit in Chennai. It began catering for the domestic market from 1999, when the Local Market Domestic Traffic Act was introduced, and started selling 25 per cent of its output in the local market.

Recently, the Chennai Export Oriented Zone was converted into an SEZ and now the manufacturer can sell any amount in the domestic market as long as it remains in the export business.

According to Sawant, export is still the firm's core business and it sells 80 per cent of its produce abroad. The company aimed to serve the mass market and did not want to compete with premium brands, he added.

"The Middle East and Africa are our major export markets and we are present in Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Canada also," said Sawant.

Sawant said the rural market had tremendous potential for beauty products but the market profile was different. "The small and economy packs are in demand in the hinterlands and we will soon come out with economy packs to reach out to the rural population," he added.

The company registered a turnover of Rs 40 crore and a growth rate of 25 per cent last year.

The major brands of SFP Private Ltd are Ashan, Taiban, Silent Valley, Tara and Christian Monica.