How Savlon could soon be the new ‘Dettol’

Once known for its stronghold on the tobacco industry, ITC has come a long way. Venturing into lifestyle largely and then into FMCG products, this Kolkata based company has efficiently removed the tag of being a tobacco brand. Now, the FMCG-Hospitality conglomerate plans to expand its portfolio to health and home care segments as well.

Having acquired Savlon from Johnson & Johnson about six months back, ITC will be introducing hand wash, hand sanitizer, shower gel and floor, glass and toilet cleaners under the brand.

"By the end of next year, ITC plans to bring nearly 100 different packs across variants within these categories, each competing directly with Reckitt Benckiser brands," one of the officials said.

Dettol, the uncrowned king in this segment has been enjoying the leverage for quite a long time. British consumer giant Reckitt Benckiser, which manufactures the antiseptic also has other brands like Harpic, Lizol and Colin. However, Savlon had sales of Rs 65 crore during fiscal 2014, trailing Dettol. Now that Savlon has an insignificant presence in hand wash, ITC may play a bigger role in changing the game.

India has a Rs 16,000-crore soaps market, where Unilever’s Lifebuoy controls the highest market share with 17%. Dettol has a 7.7% market share and ITC’s Vivel has a 2.5% share.
ITC aims to achieve Rs 1 lakh crore by 2030, which is almost a 10 folds jump from its present revenue of Rs 9,038 crore.

Within the personal care business, the company has not been able to gain substantial traction as it did in deodorants, where it became the second-largest brand. The cash cow - packaged foods - is perhaps the only one that has been performing well, after being the second-largest snack maker, largest branded atta company as well as the third-largest biscuit maker in the country.