In this PPt the forray of Patanjali in to the FMCG market and the reactive strategies of brands like, emami, HUL, Colgate Palmolive, Himalaya and Godrej are described, with the relevant news feeds of the correlated timeline. The emergence of Ayurvedic mantra and the battle of the brands in this arena is described.
2. INDIAN FMCG INDUSTRY
• India’s FMCG market, the country’s fourth largest
sector, is estimated to reach USD 49 billion in 2016.
• The FMCG sector is diverse with various sub-segments
including food & beverages, personal care, household
care, tobacco, lighting and healthcare products.
• Major ayurvedic brands – Dabur and Baidyanath and
Indian and MNC FMCG majors – Colgate, HUL, GSK,
Marico, Emami etc. make up the majority of the
organized segment of the Indian FMCG space.
3. Patanjali: A Disruptive Force of
Herbal FMCG
• Patanjali started selling its products through its network of exclusive
stores: Patanjali Arogya Kendra , Patanjali Chikitsalya and Swadeshi
Kendras .
• PAL currently has 15,000 exclusive outlets (5,000 franchise stores),
3,000 health centres, and the company’s products are also available
via traditional retail.
• Patanjali products are available through over 177,000 retail outlets.
• Patanjali Ayurved Limited (PAL), started as a small pharmacy in
1997, morphed into an FMCG company in 2006.
4. • To expand its modern trade presence, PAL entered into an
agreement with Future Group in Oct., 2015 to make available
Patanjali products at all Big Bazaar, KB’s and EasyDay outlets.
• PAL also has presence in 400 stores across Star Bazaar, HyperCity
and Reliance Retail.
• Online, PAL sells through its website , and e-commerce sites like
Amazon, Big Basket etc.
5. PATANJALI - THE GROWTH STORY
1. Promotion and Endorsements :
• Patanjali has unconventional ways of doing business right from
its branding, advertising, pricing to distribution model.
• PAL does not use different brands across product categories and
instead uses the “Patanjali” brand across all product categories.
• PAL has been prudent in using Baba Ramdev as the unofficial
brand ambassador.
• As long as Baba Ramdev is fit and promoting Yoga, PAL would be
able to ride on Baba Ramdev’s image.
6. 2. PAL’s product pricing.
• Patanjali products are priced
on a cost plus basis and are at
a significant discount to
competition across most
categories.
• This is possible as a result of
efficient raw material
procurement (sourcing
directly from farmers without
middlemen) and lower
management / manpower
costs.
7. • Certain products like honey,
face washes and wheat flour
are priced as much as 30%
less than competitor’s
products.
• This works well with Indian
consumers who look for cost
effective but high quality
alternatives to popular
FMCG brands.
• An exception is PAL’s cow
milk ghee, which is offered
as a premium product and is
priced higher (14% higher
than leading brands) than
competition.
8.
9. 3. Consumer’s perspective :
• The consumer’s perspective is changing and consumers
increasingly prefer wellness focused products.
• PAL’s ayurvedic products appease to such a consumer
base, looking for chemical-free, natural and herbal
products.
10. 4. Favorable socio-political environment :
• The current government has been quite vocal about
its “Made in India” initiative.
• PAL has certainly been riding this wave and positioning
itself as the national alternative to foreign brands.
• PAL has been encouraging both consumers and retailers
alike to shun foreign MNC manufactured products by
trying to invoke the Swadeshi movement.
11. WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
• Despite the roadblocks and PAL’s “raw” style
towards business, the company is on a growth
trajectory (FY16e Revenue: INR 5,000 Bn.) unseen
in the FMCG space.
• Established companies across the FMCG space and
specifically in certain food and health and wellness
segments such as ayurvedic medicines, ghee,
toothpaste, chyawanprash, honey etc. are likely to
feel the impact in the medium to long term.
12. • As PAL continues to add product categories,
enhance its production and distribution
capabilities and export sales, it could achieve its
ambitious growth targets.
• The next few years will determine if PAL will
continue to disrupt the FMCG market and it will be
interesting to follow the response of the FMCG bell
weathers.
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
13. COLGATE - HAS TURNED UPBEAT.
• After months of losing sales
to Patanjali Ayurved’s Dant
Kanti, the American oral care
giant seems to have found
its feet.
• It has been pushing
aggressively in the market
its Colgate Neem Active Salt,
which contains traditional
Indian teeth cleansers neem
and salt, to take on Dant
Kanti.
14. • The results have been encouraging.
• The toothpaste, which Colgate had launched a year
ago, now has a market share of 1.1 per cent.
• While it may still be short of Dant Kanti’s share of
nearly 7 per cent of the Rs 7,000-crore (Rs 70-
billion) toothpaste market, at least Colgate has a
product that can halt the Patanjali juggernaut.
COLGATE - HAS TURNED UPBEAT.
15. DABUR ENTERS THE WARFARE
• Dabur launched a range of honey-
based fruit spreads to expand its
honey portfolio, where it has been
fighting Patanjali tooth and nail.
• It has also fortified its hair oil
portfolio in recent quarters, where
Patanjali has been biting at its
heels.
• And it is aggressively pushing its
healthcare products into
pharmacies, besides talking to
doctors directly.
16. • These initiatives (excluding the
honey-based fruit spread launch)
appear to be paying off. In the
March 2016 quarter, Dabur saw 7
per cent volume growth, ahead of
the 3-5 per cent range that the
Street had expected.
• In its annual report, Dabur said it
had launched 44 products during
the year, a significant number.
• Dabur’s annual report does not
specify the number of launches
that year.
DABUR ENTERS THE WARFARE
17. • Dabur has signed a deal with Snapdeal,
which has agreed to sell Ayurvedic
products on its e-commerce platform on
Dabur’s new line of Ayurvedic product
called ‘LiveVeda’
• The company revamped its marketing
communications with a new tagline—
Science-based Ayurveda.
• To focus more on Ayurvedic formulations,
the company is doubling its herb
cultivation.
• Introducing traditional Ayurvedic post-
natal health tonic Dashmularishta and the
menstrual pain relief tonic Ashokarishta in
fruit flavours.
DABUR ENTERS THE WARFARE
18. EMAMI - NOT FAR BEHIND
• Emami has re-launched virtually every
key brand in its portfolio from Zandu to
Navratna and Fair & Handsome in
recent months in a bid to ring-fence
itself from competitors.
• While Navratna is Emami’s largest
brand, valued at over Rs 700 crore (Rs
7 billion), Zandu is the second-largest
at Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion).
• Fair & Handsome is around Rs 350
crore (Rs 3.5 billion) in size, according
to industry estimates.
• Emami’s acquisition of Kesh King
19. HUL – RACE AGAINST PATANJALI
• HUL, the country’s largest consumer goods company, on the other hand,
has begun aggressively promoting Indulekha, the Ayurveda hair oil brand
it acquired from the Kerala-based Monsons Group in December 2015.
• Indulekha gives us a presence in the premium Ayurveda hair oil space.
• ‘Lever Ayush’ brand is trying to better out PAL in its Advertisement and
endorsements.
• The new range of Lever Ayush brings 5,000 years of Ayurvedic wisdom to
solve modern lifestyle problems.
• The products are designed to attract and retain such consumers with high-
quality Ayurveda-based offerings.
20. • After Patanjali, HUL’s Ayush is the only brand which is
spread across categories -- toothpaste, soaps, face wash
and face cream, shampoo and hand wash -- can give
Patanjali a tough competition, especially because of its far
and wide distribution spread.
21. • HUL is also trying to add some
novelty to its products. For
example,
1. Ayush Freshness Gel Cardamom
toothpaste contains cardamom
(elaichi) which eliminates bad
odour and imparts fresh breath.
2. Ayush Natural Fairness Saffron
Soap contains saffrom (kesar)
knows for its healing properties.
3. Ayush Anti-Dandruff Fenugreek
Shampoo has fenugreek (methi)
that has medicinal properties.
22. GODREJ – GOES NATURAL
• Godrej Consumer Products, for
instance, plans to launch herbal
variants across product categories,
according to market sources.
• It has already launched neem-
based household insecticides and a
toilet soap variant with neem and
coconut oil.
• It has launched a “Neem-Based”
mosquito coil (Knight Neem Low
Smoke Coil) and Creme Hair Colour
that contains coconut oil and Henna
(Godrej Nupur ).
23. HIMALAYA – TAKING IT EASY
• Himalaya which is based in
Bengaluru markets its
products as the one with no
chemicals and bleaches, now
plans to expand into other
categories this year by
increasing brand awareness.
It plans to enter Men’s
care and child care sectors
which are expected to
grow upto 60% by 2020.
24. CONCLUSION
• There is a shift in consumer preference which is
manifesting not only in Patanjali clocking
mindboggling numbers, but also through companies
which are more Ayurvedic or herbal-centric in their
portfolios and are doing much better.
• With the expectation of the industry growing at a
crisp phase with about 75% growth by 2020, the
herbal FMCG sector poises greater opportunity for all.