The Hindu Business Line : Nivea cashing in on male grooming segment boom

Mumbai May 3 Ramping up its product portfolio in the Indian market, Beiersdorf AG, the German maker of the Nivea brand, has launched a new range — Nivea for Men. Having floated a wholly owned subsidiary in the past year, Nivea is expected to sport 33 new products this year.

At a press conference, Mr Kai Boris Bendix, Managing Director, Nivea India, said, "We intend taking up the number of Nivea products and have 33 new products in relevant areas to bring choice to consumers.''

With the intention of achieving a 5 per cent share in the cosmetics and toiletries category in the next five years, Beiersdorf is also hoping to locally manufacture the brand.

Added Mr Bendix, "Today, we are locally manufacturing 60 per cent of the portfolio but the intention is to take that number up. We also do not rule out having our own plant in the country.''

In India, the Nivea brand is partly manufactured by JL Morison and third party contractors. Besides, the brand continues to get distributed by JL Morison, the previous licensee holder of the brand.

Entering a new segment within the male grooming category, Nivea has launched a range of whitening products under its Nivea for Men range.

Competing with the existing brands such as Emami's Fair & Handsome and Hindustan Lever's Fair & Lovely Active, Nivea for Men's whitening range is expected to grow the nascent market even further.

As Mr Bendix states, "More than taking away shares from others, we expect to grow this market in a different direction.'' Citing data on the current market size, Mr Bendix estimates the Indian grooming market at Rs 750 crore with a growth rate of 200 per cent.

"For the Nivea brand, however, growth rates have been hovering at 2 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region while countries such as Thailand (145 per cent) and China (77 per cent) have been registering galloping rates.

"Nivea has a long way to go in India. Today's its share in the cosmetics and toiletries segment stands at 0.2 per cent,'' says Mr Bendix.