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Jyothy Labs plans to restrict its Ujala washing powder to the southern markets for now and withdraw premium variant Ujala Technobright from its portfolio due to intense competition in the detergent category.
Apart from Kerala, the home-grown fast moving consumer goods company is now taking its Ujala washing powder to the rest of the southern states such as Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, rather than ensuring a pan-India presence. Jyothy entered the detergent category nearly seven years ago and has a 17 per cent share in Kerala. Hindustan Unilever’s Sunlight reigns with a 23 per cent market share.
M.P. Ramachandran, Chairman and Managing Director of Jyothy Labs, said, “We have decided to restrict Ujaja detergent as a mid-priced brand in the southern states to avoid competing with Henko detergent, which is a premium brand.” Ujala washing powder currently has a sales turnover of Rs 70 crore.
At the same time, Jyothy is re-launching its acquired Henko detergent brand from Henkel, which will have a national presence along with other detergent brands such as Mr White and Chek.
Even for Henko, Jyothy Labs has projected a 2 per cent modest increase in market share from the current 2 per cent to 4 per cent. But, there is enough room for Henko to grow in the detergent category with a compounded annual growth rate of 10 per cent.
“Almost 50 per cent of the detergent category is made up of regional and smaller players and, unlike other FMCG categories, it is not dominated by just a few brands. This leaves enough room for Henko to grow. It is already a Rs 100-crore brand,” said S. Raghunandan, CEO and Wholetime Director, Jyothy Labs. Henko detergent is pitted against multinational brands such as Surf and Ariel.
Even in soaps, Jyothy is restricting its soap brand Jeeva to Kerala, while unleashing Henkel’s Margo soap brand in different forms and variants, including line extensions such as talc and face wash. In fact, Margo soap talc and face wash is expected to go pan-India from a limited presence in the east and south markets.
Competition is also making Jyothy stay away from the crowded men’s deo category. It is now re-launching Henkel’s Fa and positioning it as a woman’s deo and talc brand with smaller pack sizes and a brand new campaign shot in South Africa, to give leg-up to the brand.
“There would be a hike in ad spends at almost 25 per cent of Fa’s top line which stands at Rs 15 crore today. We want to make Fa a Rs 100-crore brand in the next three years,” added Raghunandan. Fa is pitted against brands such as Eva, Spinz, Dove and Lux in the woman’s deo category.
purvita@thehindu.co.in
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