The FMCG and hospitality company, ITC is planning to extend its latest acquisition of antiseptic brand Savlon. The company intends to expand the same to half a dozen categories as it is entering the home care and health segments to compete with Reckitt Benckiser. Also, ITC is in the intension of widening the non-tobacco product portfolio.
The antiseptic brand Savlon owned by Johnson & Johnson was acquired by ITC six months ago. It will be launched in the categories such as hand wash, shower gel, hand sanitizer, and toilet, floor and glass cleaners, claimed the industry officials.
One of the officials stated that by the end of 2016, ITC is in plans to launch almost 100 different packs across the variants in the above mentioned categories. These variants will compete with the products of Reckitt Benckiser brand.
Reckitt Benckiser is a British consumer major that is known for the antiseptic brand Dettol. The other brands from the vendor that are popular are Colin, Lizol and Harpic that are leading in the cleaning care category in India.
Savlon had a sales figure of Rs 65 crore in the last fiscal year. The market presence of Savlon is quite insignificant as the Rs 300 crore worth antiseptic market in India is dominated by Dettol and Lifebuoy.
Dettol from Reckitt Benckiser is available in India since 1933 and it is available in different categories including liquid hand wash, hand sanitizer, soaps and antiseptic liquid. Lifebuoy of HUL is the largest brand in soap market in India with a market share of 17 percent. Dettol has 7.7 percent and Vivel from ITC has around 2.5 percent market share.
Talking of the non-cigarette consumer products, the company’s Chairman, YC Deveshwar says that ITC is targeting a sales figure of Rs 1 lakh crore by 2030. This is over a ten fold increase in the revenue as the cigarette consumption is down due to steep taxes.
