Kent RO smells big business in air purifiers

Water purifier maker Kent RO Systems, which recently entered the air purifier segment, believes the segment will be one of its key growth drivers even as it aims to double revenues in five years.

“We are operating in the space of purity and health. We will continue to invest in products that fit this strategy. I believe that just like China, India can also become a big market for air purifiers in the long term,” said Mahesh Gupta, CMD of Kent RO Systems.

“The key challenge is to create awareness and educate consumers.”

Even though the domestic air purifier segment is still small, the company aims to double its revenues in five years from the current ₹800 crore. “We expect air purifiers to contribute about 10-15 per cent of the overall business,” Gupta added.

The company is also selling home appliances such as cold-pressed juicers and vacuum cleaners. “We will continue to expand this range,” he said.

While the water purifiers industry is growing at 15-20 per cent, the competition has intensified, observed Gupta.

“A lot of competitors are putting out cheaper products without much focus on quality. But we will continue to focus on launching quality products as our focus is not just to gain market share. However, penetration remains low,” he added.

Kent RO recently launched a ‘smart’ water purifier that monitors quality on a real-time basis and displays it on a digital screen.

Plans are afoot to introduce more premium products. The company is also setting up its second plant at Noida at an investment of ₹100 crore.

“Once this plant gets operational, by 2018, we expect to double our capacity for water purifiers,” Gupta said.

Kent RO currently exports products to Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh. “We are looking to expand our presence to other countries, such as Malaysia and Vietnam,” he said.

Talking about the e-commerce channel, Gupta said factors such as heavy discounts and products being sold by unauthorised people are the key challenges.

“We are working closely with key e-commerce players. However, marketplaces allow even unauthorised entities to sell products. We don’t want our brand to suffer. We plan to approach the government on this issue.

“I believe that some guidelines need to be introduced so that only distributors with authorisation letters are allowed to sell a brand’s products on the e-commerce channel,” Gupta added.

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