Hygiene products see uptick on second wave

As the country battles the second wave of the pandemic, FMCG companies – large and small – are witnessing an uptick in demand for hygiene products, including sanitisers and hand washes.

Sanitiser sales

According to data sourced from Bizom, a retail intelligence platform that tracks sales at kirana stores, the demand for sanitisers and home-care products in April is higher than the levels that was seen in the last two quarters. The data show that sales of sanitisers alone had surged 12.5 times, compared to the pre-lockdown levels between April and June, and 5.2 times compared to the pre-lockdown levels in July-September. However, by January-March this year, sanitiser sales had stabilised to 2.3 times of the pre-lockdown levels.

Akshay D’Souza, Chief Marketing Officer at Bizom, said: “ In April, we are seeing a surge yet again in consumption of sanitisers, toilet cleaners and floor cleaners. Established and leading brands are witnessing higher offtake for such products compared to newer brands since the availability of established brands remains strong this year .”

Newer and smaller players that had ventured into sanitisers last year were struggling by third quarter after demand had tapered off but they are now being able to liquidate their stocks, he said. “However, a number of associated products that were launched last year such as vegetable cleaners are seeing very little movement now,” he added.

‘Key area of priority’

Sameer Satpathy, Divisional Chief Executive, Personal Care Products Business, ITC Ltd, said: “Health and hygiene continue to be a key area of priority for consumers. We are witnessing a strong uptick in demand for our hygiene portfolio under the Savlon brand across geographies. The robustness and agility of our supply chains provide the flexibility and enable us to address the emerging demand trends.”

During the course of the pandemic, ITC’s Savlon brand fast tracked innovation in line with emerging consumer needs, rapidly scaled up capacity, and swiftly positioned new innovations in the market in the health and hygiene space, he added.

Rajesh Krishnamurthy- Business Director - Consumer Products Division, The Himalaya Drug Company, said the company is witnessing a rise in demand for hygiene products, including sanitisers, due to the prevailing second wave. “We are continuing to ensure that product categories such as hand wash, hygiene category, home care and sanitisers are made available to the consumers. We have shored up our logistics, sales priorities and capabilities to cater to the Covid-19-induced business environment,” he added.

Anshu Budhraja, CEO, Amway India, said the company is seeing a steady rise in demand for hygiene and personal care products, especially soaps, hand washes and sanitisers.

“Going by the trend and learnings from last year, we are all geared up to support the expected rise in demand by approximately 25 per cent for hygiene products starting April 2021. We have increased the inventories of all our key SKUs in nutrition, personal and homecare segment by 30- 35 per cent over and above the forecast for the year.

“In addition to this, we are also proactively blocking capacities with our suppliers to ensure consistent supplies of raw material during this period,” he added.

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