With rise in demand of personal hygiene products due to the COVID-19 outbreak, FMCG major Emami Ltd on June 18 said it has advanced its plans to foray into personal hygiene segment under its flagship brand Boroplus by a year .
The company also said it wishes to transform Boroplus, which is largely a winter skincare product, to an all-year brand with a new range of soap and hand wash, thus reducing the company's dependence on seasonality.
"We had planned to turn Boroplus into an all-season brand in the first quarter of 2021-22 to leverage strong brand recall, and personal hygiene is a natural extension. That plan had been brought ahead and implemented," Emami director Priti Sureka said.
The new portfolio will fuel the brand's growth at 14- 15 percent in the current fiscal.
The Kolkata-based consumer goods giant recently launched an anti-germ hand sanitiser, one of the essential commodities amid the COVID-19 pandemic
"Bath soap and liquid hand wash were part of the expansion plan. Sanitiser, however, is a product of emerging opportunity," Sureka maintained.
She remained optimistic about garnering Rs 80-100 crore revenue from the new hygiene category under Boroplus, which is a power brand for Emami. The brand accounts for 17 percent of total revenue.
Emami reported Rs 1,929 crore sales from April- December 2019 period (nine months of 2019-20 fiscal).
The new products, meant for all seasons, will be rolled out within a week for pan India distribution.
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With the recent launch of Aloe Vera gel, Boroplus has four products in its portfolio basket, and the three additional ones will push the figure to seven.
Emami recently said that restrictions on movement in various states had affected the supply chain from mid-March, even before the imposition of the lockdown.
The skincare major also said that operations until the first fortnight of April witnessed significant disruptions, affecting the pre-season sale of the company's summer products.
"The company's healthcare range has been witnessing a steady demand for its immunity boosting products. The discretionary and personal care products are also slowly witnessing a recovery in demand," it had added.
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