Sagar.Malviya @timesgroup.com Mumbai: Unilever, the parent of India’s largest consumer go- ods firm Hindustan Unilever (HUL), has for the first time ack- nowledged competition in the herbal segment in the country and said the company has been launching products in the “na- tural” space to fight it. There are “a couple of great ex- amples” in India in the herbal segment: “Patanjali, which eve- rybody is looking forward to with lot of interest”, and Hima- laya, which is “sitting in the na- tural segment” in the personal care space, Andrew Stephen, he- ad of investor relations at Unile- ver, said in a conference call with investors last week. This is the second instance of a global consumer giant publicly acknowledging the growth of yo- ga guru Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved. Colgate-Palmolive in May said the so-called natural segment in India has been gro- wing rapidly and that the compa- ny needs to capitalise on it. Increasing health conscious- ness and awareness among peo- ple about the benefits of using nal care portfolio, a business that contributed about half the com- pany’s `32,000-crore revenue in fiscal 2016 and about two-thirds of its net profit. “What we are do- ing there incidentally is laun- ching several brands... we bo- ught Indulekha, which is a natu- ral positioning in hair oil. Ay- ush, which is a brand we’ve had for a long time but very strong in naturals … and Fair & Lovely has got Ayurvedic offerings in the portfolio now,” Stephen said. HUL has been reporting slo- wing volume growth in India, largely due to a severe slowdown in rural demand. During its Sep- tember quarter performance call with analysts, the maker of Dove, Lux and Rin also said mar- ket conditions have softened in India and volumes in skin clean- sing segment have suffered from price increases necessitated by rising commodity costs. In April, Baba Ramdev claimed Patanjali Ayurved had the poten- tial to upstage consumer product multinationals, including, Uni- lever, Colgate and Nestle. Competition is ‘Natural’ This is the second instance of a global consumer giant taking note of the aggressive growth of Patanjali Ayurved Earlier, Colgate- Palmolive had said the natural segment in India has been growing rapidly and they need to capitalise on it HUL, Unilever’s Indian arm, has launched several ‘natural’ products in the personal care segment The segment contributed half of the company’s total revenues in FY16 and two- thirds to its net profit Other MNCs, too, have shifted focus to Ayurveda HUL’s parent says products lined up to fight a ‘great example’ in herbal space Ayurveda have driven the de- mand for herbal products in the market. With Patanjali’s rise to become a `5,000-crore company in less than a decade, MNCs, too, have shifted focus to Ayur- veda — Colgate, for instance, launched Vedshakti toothpas- te, while L’Oreal introduced a hair care range under Garnier Ultra Blends made with natu- ral ingredients. For HUL, several of its new launches have been in the perso- Unilever Admits to New Competition in Patanjali
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Mumbai: Unilever, the parentof India’s largest consumer go-ods firm Hindustan Unilever(HUL), has for the first time ack-nowledged competition in theherbal segment in the countryand said the company has beenlaunching products in the “na-tural” space to fight it.
There are “a couple of great ex-amples” in India in the herbalsegment: “Patanjali, which eve-rybody is looking forward towith lot of interest”, and Hima-laya, which is “sitting in the na-tural segment” in the personalcare space, Andrew Stephen, he-ad of investor relations at Unile-
ver, said in a conference call withinvestors last week.
This is the second instance of aglobal consumer giant publiclyacknowledging the growth of yo-ga guru Baba Ramdev’s PatanjaliAyurved. Colgate-Palmolive inMay said the so-called naturalsegment in India has been gro-wing rapidly and that the compa-ny needs to capitalise on it.
Increasing health conscious-ness and awareness among peo-ple about the benefits of using
nal care portfolio, a business thatcontributed about half the com-pany’s `̀32,000-crore revenue infiscal 2016 and about two-thirdsof its net profit. “What we are do-ing there incidentally is laun-ching several brands... we bo-ught Indulekha, which is a natu-ral positioning in hair oil. Ay-ush, which is a brand we’ve hadfor a long time but very strong innaturals … and Fair & Lovely hasgot Ayurvedic offerings in theportfolio now,” Stephen said.
HUL has been reporting slo-wing volume growth in India,largely due to a severe slowdownin rural demand. During its Sep-tember quarter performancecall with analysts, the maker ofDove, Lux and Rin also said mar-ket conditions have softened inIndia and volumes in skin clean-sing segment have suffered fromprice increases necessitated byrising commodity costs.
In April, Baba Ramdev claimedPatanjali Ayurved had the poten-tial to upstage consumer productmultinationals, including, Uni-lever, Colgate and Nestle.
Competition is ‘Natural’This is the
second instance of
a global consumer
giant taking note of the
aggressive
growth of
Patanjali
Ayurved
Earlier, Colgate-
Palmolive had said
the natural segment
in India has been
growing rapidly
and they need to
capitalise on it
HUL, Unilever’s
Indian arm, has
launched
several ‘natural’
products in the
personal care
segment
The segment contributed half
of the company’s total
revenues in FY16 and two-
thirds to its net profit
Other
MNCs,
too, have
shifted
focus to
Ayurveda
HUL’s parent says
products lined up to
fight a ‘great example’
in herbal space
Ayurveda have driven the de-mand for herbal products in themarket. With Patanjali’s rise tobecome a ̀̀ 5,000-crore companyin less than a decade, MNCs,too, have shifted focus to Ayur-veda — Colgate, for instance,launched Vedshakti toothpas-te, while L’Oreal introduced ahair care range under GarnierUltra Blends made with natu-ral ingredients.
For HUL, several of its newlaunches have been in the perso-
Unilever Admits to NewCompetition in Patanjali
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