Much research and marketing are being poured into certain segments of the skin care industry. Recently, there has been a resurgence of natural/herbal products. Men who are becoming more aware about grooming are driving the men’s skin care industry,which is rapidly growing as well.

This is the first time Elder Healthcare will roll out its own brands, as till now, the company’s main thrust area has been on marketing and distributing brands of other companies under exclusive licensing arrangement. With this, the company expects to grow its revenue upwards of 60% to achieve a turnover of Rs 300 crore by FY13.

“After growing our distribution network, we are now looking at a balanced portfolio of own and licensed products,” said Elder Healthcare MD Anuuj Saxena.

“We expect around 50% of our revenue will come from own brands in three years. These products will be rolled out in phases from the fourth quarter of this fiscal year,” he said.

At present, Elder Healthcare’s sole own brand AMPM mouthwash contributes a meagre 4% to its turnover. It plans to extend the brand into toothbrush, toothpaste and teeth whitener. In the skincare segment, Elder Healthcare plans to launch 14 SKUs in areas like moisturiser, sun screen, anti-ageing and under-eye gel. The company has given the mandate for these product developments to an Italian firm.

The skin care market in India is estimated to be Rs 4,000 crore, while the oral care segment is worth around Rs 2,500 crore.

At present, Elder’s largest selling FMCG brand is Tiger Balm which alone, has revenue of Rs 30 crore. The product is exclusively licensed to Elder by its owner Haw Par of Singapore. Other key licensed products include Shahnaz Hussain’s Fairone Fairness Cream, VLCC’s Fuel for Men deodorant, Australia-based Rye Pharma’s Burn Aid anti-burn gel, US-based Blistex’s lip care product and US-based Combe’s Just for Men hair colour. These brands enjoy market share ranging between 3% to 20% in their respective segments.

Elder Healthcare also plans to grow its present distribution network of about three lakh outlets by adding another five lakh outlets, primarily in the semi-urban and rural markets.

writankar.mukherjee@timesgroup.com