Unilever plans to launch baby care products under Dove brand
India: HUL has decided to expand his
brand Dove by launching a range of baby care products under its gamut. Unilever
is the country’s largest consumer products company. However, for this segment,
they have undergone 50-50 joint venture with Kimberly-Clark which has been
making and selling brands like Kotex and Huggies since 1995. There are rumors
that the company plans to divest its entire stake in the venture to focus on
core products. It is predicted that several of these baby care products will
directly compete with J&J’s products and will be first serious competitors
for J&J’s in the country. This decision is also seen as a part of company’s
strategy to expand Dove. Last decade, dove was transformed from being just a
bathing soap in 1993 to shampoo, deodorants, lotions, body and face wash.
The market is favorable and demand for baby and child care
products will remain high due to several factors, including rising disposable
incomes, increasing number of nuclear families in urban centers, increasing
awareness of child care products, and the expected rapid growth of modern
retailers. Dove is taken as the fastest-growing brand in Unilever’s portfolio due
to its rapidly rising revenues, from USD15.38 million in FY’06 to USD230.77
million in FY’16.
According to TechSci
Research, baby and child specific products market has huge potential in
India as it is estimated that there are about 26 million children born every
year in the country. Also, there is a huge market which is still left untouched
and uncovered. There is low reach of such products due to low income groups, improper
transport channels, reduced awareness and weak supply chain. India is
under-branded in baby and child care category despite of the fact that there is
high potential and rising birth rates. Even less innovations and low product
variants is also the reason behind sluggish growth of this category in India.
Unilever’s personal care business
accounts for half of the total sales and profits of about 65%. So it is
expected that the company will target the under-penetrated markets including
those which have gained friction in recent years due to Government’s
initiatives.