Himalaya enters fast growing men's grooming segment

In pharmaceuticals, working actively on oncology, diabetes, endocrinology, weight management verticals

Having emerged as the market leader in the women’s face wash segment with a 19 per cent share, Himalaya Drug Company, is now trying to do the same in the men’s grooming segment. The company launched a men’s face wash earlier this month and is now planning to come up with hair care and skin whitening products for men in around a year’s time.

From a 10 per cent share in its turnover in 2002, the personal care segment has grown manifold to grab a 38 per cent share in revenue, at par with the company’s pharma segment at the moment. As Philipe Haydon, chief executive officer, Himalaya puts it, “The personal care segment has been clocking a 30 per cent growth rate in the last few years, and we expect it to overtake our pharma revenues in the years to come.”

While Haydon said it is difficult to put an exact number to the men’s grooming products market in the country as that would also include shaving products apart from skincare and haircare products, nonetheless the men’s face wash market is estimated to be around Rs 200-220 crore. Himalaya plans to replicate the success of its female face wash product in this segment too, and is eyeing 12-15 per cent market share soon. The overall face wash market in urban areas is around Rs 1,000 crore.

According to industry insiders, the male grooming products market in India is likely to cross Rs 5,000 crore by 2016, and of this the men’s skin care segment is likely to clock a growth rate of around 25 per cent.

Overall, Himalaya has been clocking a growth rate of 25 per cent for the last four years, touching revenues of Rs 1,450 crore, and the fastest growing segment for the company in recent years has been the babycare portfolio, which has been growing at 130 per cent year on year, Haydon claimed. At the moment, baby care contributes to only 8 per cent of the turnover, about 4 per cent comes from animal healthcare products, and the remaining from contract manufacturing.

Betting on the personal care segment to drive growth, Himalaya aims to touch a global turnover of about $ 1 billion by 2020 and the Indian operations would contribute around 50 per cent of that. As for the pharma segment, the company’s focus areas in the coming years includes, oncology, HIV-AIDS related therapies, endocrinology, diabetes care and weight management.