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McNROE, makers of deo-brand Wild Stone, which entered the men’s grooming segment earlier this year, is planning to expand the product range.
Entry into the men’s grooming range was through a sub-brand called “Wild Stone Edge” and the offerings include hair gels, shower gels, face wash and shaving foams.
McNROE has primarily been into fragrances through offerings across categories such as deos , after-shave, perfumes, talcum powder and soaps. Wild Stone continues to be the flagship brand accounting for 70 per cent of the company’s turnover.
Headquartered in Kolkata, Wild Stone is amongst the top five deo brands in the country competing with the likes of Vini Cosmetics’Fogg, ITC’s Engage, HUL’s Axe, and Nivea. According to Narendra Kumar Daga, MD, McNROE had been doing its due diligence about expanding its product range. The men’s grooming category was witnessing growth and it made “business sense” to enter the segment.
“Grooming products have become main-stream now. And we feel it is the right time to enter the segment,” he told BusinessLine .
“We will see how the traction has been for this new range and would look to add to the range every three-to-four months,” Daga added.
Men’s Grooming
While, he did not specify the categories, sources say a logical extension could be into niche areas like beard and moustache grooming — through oils, gels, washes, tissues and so on.
Male grooming is one of the highest growing markets in India. It is pegged at ₹16,000 crore, sources say. But, nearly 60 per cent of this is occupied by shaving razors.
The next big chunk is deodorant and fragrances which are said to be growing at 15 per cent per annum. Hair grooming, shower gels and others like facewash, fairness creams and lotions are the other categories.
Apart from Indian FMCG companies like Marico that are increasing their presence in specialised categories such as the beard and moustache grooming segment, a number of start-ups like Ustraa, Beardo, The Man Company, among others have significant presence in the segment.
“The category (men’s grooming) is now taking off,” Daga said.
Capex
The focus on men’s grooming will also help the company boost its topline by around 20-25 per cent. From around ₹410 crore turnover in FY18, the turnover is expected to increase to ₹500 crore by the end of this fiscal. For the first half of the fiscal the company’s turnover stood at ₹240 crore.
According to Daga, the company has set up a second plant at Haridwar from where it will be manufacturing its offerings.
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