The Hindu Business Line : JHS Svendgaard looks at $20 m from sales to Wal-Mart

JHS Svendgaard Laboratories Ltd, an oral care products manufacturer, hopes to generate export revenue of $20 million from sales to US retail giant Wal-Mart alone in the next two years.

The Rs 40-crore New Delhi-based company is a contract manufacturer of oral care products for Fortune 500 companies such as Wal-Mart, Boots of the UK, and Carrefour of France.

Fifty per cent of its revenue is generated from exports, an official company spokesperson told Business Line.

In the domestic market, JHS Svendgaard is engaged in private label business for Indian companies such as Dabur India Ltd, Balsara, Ajanta, Oral-B, and Sahara India.

Products manufactured at the company's plants in Delhi include toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss and denture tablets.

Having obtained knowhow from Wal-Mart, the company recently made a foray into the cosmetic dentistry segment.

It has introduced a 14-day teeth whitening formula, a segment that is stated to be growing at 98 per cent annually in the US and Europe.

"With paan and gutkha stains being quite common in our country, we are trying to create a new market for our product. Our teeth whitening gel, Aquawhite, works on all kinds of natural stains. The product we have just launched is in line with safe treatment methods adopted by dentists and has received the approval of Wal-Mart," the spokesperson said.

Mahima Chaudhary, the Hindi film star, has been signed on as brand ambassador for the teeth whitening gel.

The spokespersons said that a national rollout of the teeth whitening gel has been scheduled for January 2006, and in the months ahead, the product would be a major driver of the company's revenues.

The company's projected turnover target for 2005-06 is Rs 70 crore. The full impact of the teeth whitening gel sales on the company's topline growth is expected to be felt only in 2006-07.