Home-grown FMCG major Marico Ltd plans to bolster its non-coconut oil portfolio in neighbouring Bangladesh. Over the next two-three years, nearly a third of its turnover there will be non-coconut oil-based products.

The portfolio accounts for 26 per cent of the company’s business in Bangladesh, and includes male-grooming products like Set Wet hair gels and deodorants, ‘Parachute Advansed’ men hair cream, hair colour offerings, ‘Mediker’ anti-lice shampoo , ‘Parachute Advansed’ skin care products and ‘Saffola’ premium edible oils.

‘Parachute’ coconut oil continues to be the flagship brand.

“We are leveraging the strong distribution network in Bangladesh and learning from the India market to quickly scale up new product introductions there,” Vivek Karve, Chief Financial Officer, Marico, told BusinessLine . Marico operates through its subsidiary, Marico Bangladesh Limited, that contributes 45 per cent of the company’s international business.

De-risking portfolio

For Q1 of this fiscal, Marico saw its Bangladesh topline grow 9 per cent year-on-year, against 7 per cent for its overall international business.

Over the last few years, it has started pushing value-added hair oils like perfumed coconut oil, hair-fall control oil, amla oil and cooling oil and; deos and male-grooming offering. The FMCG player started expanding its portfolio after after growth in the coconut-oil segment slowed. Significant investments were made in the non-coconut oil portfolio.

According to a report by Edelweiss Securities, the non-coconut oil portfolio has been growing at 50 per cent, year-on-year, as compared to the coconut oil segment whose growth has been “flattish” in Q1 FY19.

According to Karve, introducing value-added hair oils yielded satisfactory results as the portfolio attained a firm No 2 position with a market share of 22 per cent. Marico is targetting market leadership in the medium-term, he said.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW