Infancy coefficient

A new player in babywipes takes on dominant players Johnson & Johnson and Wipro.

If there's one market that remains woefully undeveloped in India, it's that of babycare products. Ginni Filament, a yarn and textile company, aims to change that with its launch of Cuddles, a brand of baby wipes made of non-woven fabric.

Made of spunlace, with the bonding done with a high pressure water jet, these babywipes are claimed to be just what parents of infants were waiting for.

The product, created on the basis of research by the consultancy KSA Technopak, has already been test marketed in northern India, and is now ready to go up against competing products imported by dominant babycare players like Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Wipro.

Ginni Filaments says it can score over the competition because of regular supply and stable affordable pricing. "While you will get a pack of 80 wipes at a price of Rs 120 through the grey channel," says Saket Jaipuria, CEO, Ginni Filaments, "you can get a Cuddles packet of 40 wipes at the price of Rs 60."

Apart from baby wipes, Ginni also markets wet make-up removal wipes in various flavours like lemon, orange, aloe, cucumber and so on (Rs 20 for a packet of 10).

Plus, the company sees huge potential in medical gowns, robes, drapes, head covers, mouth covers and other such applications of spunlace. But those will come later.

"As of now, most such medical products are made of spunbond material, which offer less flexibility and draping," says Sanjay Srivastava, chief operating officer, Ginni Filaments.

Selling at low prices necessitates high volumes. While the fabric is currently being imported, its own plant in Gujarat is slated to commence production in October this year, with a capacity of 12,000 tonnes of spunlace per annum.

The conversion and other value-addition processes will be undertaken at a facility in Kosi, Mathura. This is part of a Rs 204-crore expansion plan by the company.

Domestic production should save money on customs and freight, cutting costs by about 25 per cent, even as exports keep the plant running to full production capacity.

The per capita consumption of babywipes in India is close to negligible at the moment, the overall babycare market having just about warmed to the idea of diapers (where a domestic price-quality breakthrough has proved elusive so far, granting space to imports).

But focused marketing efforts, rising parental sensitivity and perhaps a helping hand from other babycare players could work in Ginni's favour, hoisting India to babycare levels worthy of a large market emerging to touch the $1,000 per capita income mark. Nobody ever said market development happens overnight.