L’Oreal India, maker of cosmetic brands such as L’Oreal Paris, Garnier and Maybelline, believes its second manufacturing plant at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh will help it strengthen its distribution network. The plant is dedicated to manufacturing hair colour products.

In a recent interaction with BusinessLine , Dinesh Dayal, COO, L’Oreal India, said, “India is a vast country and from the supply chain viewpoint, having more than one manufacturing unit enables us to reach out to more consumers faster and more efficiently. North India is one of the largest beauty markets, so it gives us an added advantage.”

The company recently acquired a sub-contracting operation at Baddi and is in the process of refurbishing and expanding it. The company already has a factory in Chakan, Pune. Dayal said L’Oreal manufactures majority of its products in India, including hair colour, shampoo, conditioners, skin care products, face washes among others.

Consumer products

In the past, the consumer products sector witnessed a slowdown, but its growth continued to outpace the market. Dayal said that in the past, the company was growing at 25 per cent compounded annual growth rate and even when the overall market saw a slowdown, the company continued to see growth in the 18-20 per cent range.

“We have been outperforming the market and have been growing two to three times higher than the market on an average. We hope to continue seeing similar growth,” he added. L’Oreal India earlier said that it had set targets to grow its turnover to ₹7,000 crore by 2020 and is on track to achieve the target.

“Per capita consumption of beauty and cosmetic products, compared with India’s population, is still among the lowest in the country.

“Therefore, we see the potential of India becoming a much bigger business for the company globally in the long term,” Dayal added.

Distribution channels

The company is present across all distribution channels, including mass market channels, with brands such as Garnier and Maybelline, besides L’oreal Paris.

It is present across hair salons through brands like L’Oreal Professional, Matrix and Kerastase among others.

The company acquired the Indian brand Cheryl’s Cosmeceuticals last year that helped broaden its presence in the professional products category.

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