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Titan Eye Wear’s dependence on China for frames and sunglasses has come down significantly in the last couple of years. It used to import nearly 95 per cent of them from China, and manufacture/source the rest of 5 per cent locally. However, today, nearly 35 per cent of them are manufactured in India, and the rest, 65 per cent, are imported from China, Korea, and Taiwan, said Saumen Bhaumik, CEO, Eye Wear Division, Titan.
“China is the hub for eye care products. However, our dependence on China will keep decreasing sharply as we ramp up our manufacturing capacity and also encourage our vendors to get prepared for scale and good quality. We also source from alternative markets such as Korea and Thailand, “he said.
“In the long run, we want to be China-free, and we are working on it,” he added.
Reducing imports
The company imports nearly 50 per cent of the lenses from China. This will also come down gradually as the company is increasing its lens manufacturing at the Bengaluru facility. The company will manufacture around 1.7 million lenses this fiscal, as against 1 million in the last fiscal. “We will cross 2 million between this and next year,” he said.
“We have significantly improved our innovation with powerful products in the lens category, both in design and coating. One of the lenses is awaiting patent. Nearly 90 per cent of lenses sold by Titan are of the company’s own make, while around 10 per cent are those of partner Carl Zeiss. “Our portfolio has become strong and diverse,” said Bhaumik, who was in Chennai to inaugurate Titan Eye+’s 100th store in Tamil Nadu and 760th in the country.
By the end of March 2023, the goal is to reach 1,000 stores across the country, he said. Currently, about 90 stores are owned by the company , and the rest run by franchisees, he added.
In 2020-21, the Covid pandemic had a big impact on the company’s topline, which declined to ₹600 crore as against ₹940 crore in 2019-20. However, last fiscal, it was almost at the level of 2019–20, he said without giving the exact number as the company is in the ‘silent’ period pending results. Online sales contributes nearly 6 per cent of the topline, he added.
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