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Purvita Chatterjee

Plans investment in existing Medimix, Cuticura brands

GOING STRONG: Medimix's sandal variant

Mumbai , Nov. 16

The Chennai-based FMCG player Cholayil Pvt Ltd is planning to grow organically by developing indigenous brands to reach Rs 500-crore turnover by 2010. Having stayed out of the brand acquisition race in recent times, the FMCG company is now looking at developing its own brands in new categories and markets.

Mr M.C. Anand Kumar, Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, Dorcas Market Makers (the marketing arm of Cholayil), told Business Line, "There are definite plans of having more indigenous brands but we may also look at acquisitions if something suitable comes along.''

New brand soon

But the chances of launching new brands by next year seem imminent for the company, which has got its R&D team working on its future brands. "Our R&D team is ready with the home-grown brands and by next year we should be launching some of them.'' Having invested in infrastructure and manpower in the recent past, Cholayil is gearing up to unleash some of its new brands.

Added Mr Nabankur Gupta, Board member of the Cholayil Group, "Today Cholayil stands a good chance of creating its own brands.''

Meanwhile, the FMCG company has been investing in its existing brands — Medimix and Cuticura. Its Rs 10-crore Cuticura brand of talcum powder has recently been extended to deo. "We expect Cuticura to exceed Rs 75-crore turnover by 2010,'' Mr Kumar said. Its biggest soap brand — the Rs 140-crore Medimix has also been re-launched with two new variants. "We will be looking at stretching the equity of Cuticura but the brand will be staying within the purview of the skincare category,'' claims Mr Kumar.

However, Cholayil will not be using `star power' for any of its brands. As Mr Kumar explains, "In the past we have used certain southern stars but now we feel our brands do not have the need for star power.'' Besides, there are plans of investing behind its Cuticura brand, which has been limited to the southern markets. "Cuticura is a brand which has potential and will now have a national distribution network which will take it beyond the southern markets,'' adds Mr Kumar.

At present, Cholayil's Medimix distribution network comprises 1,300 stockists who reach out to 20 lakh outlets across the country. With its renewed focus on its brands, Cholayil is beefing up its distribution network to have national presence for both its brands. "The Cholayail board has discussed the possibilities of moving its brands up the value chain,'' says Mr Gupta.

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