The Hindu Business Line : Oriflame plans to launch 400 new products

The company has invested Rs 55 crore in Indian operations since 1996 and claims to have converted the manufacturing facility at Noida into a sourcing hub for Oriflame's global operations.

Now, in one of its biggest ever revamp, Oriflame has decided to launch as many as 400 new products in India over the next few months, replacing old ones and entering new categories in the process.

"India has been a challenging market. But sustained effort has helped Oriflame India witness a healthy two-digit growth over the last six months. Keeping up the growth momentum, we have decided to launch 400 new products over the next 12-15 months," the CEO of Oriflame India, Mr Thomas Ekberg, told Business Line.

Among the new launches will be a complete men's range including shaving foam, after-shave lotion, shower gel, shampoo and antiperspirant.

Besides, products such as shampoos would be relaunched in improved formulations.

Mr Ekberg said that Oriflame has only three manufacturing facilities globally, including India, which means that exports from the country contribute significantly to Oriflame's international operations.

From India, the company exported around 12 million units last year including products in the foot care, fairness cream and lotion, talcum powder and roll-on antiperspirant categories, he said.

But the emphasis on exports from India does not mean that all Oriflame products sold in India are manufactured in-house.

"With steadily lowered import duties, importing products into the country is becoming increasingly viable so that the Indian product range is a mix of imported products and those made locally."

On whether the company resorted to any price cuts during the recent spate of price corrections by leading FMCG companies, he said: "Some price corrections have been done in the last few months. For example, we enlarged the pack size of our soap from 75 g to 100 g and improved the formulation of shampoos without altering the price. However, in some instances, we have also taken a price hike like in fairness creams."

But has Oriflame India broken even? Mr Ekberg did not divulge financial details and even refused to reveal the number of sales people the company has on its rolls.

However, he did say that the company's regional presence would be enhanced within the country. The Indian company was converted into a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Swedish parent some years ago.

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