First Dabur campaign on cooking range

In a bid to augment growth, the Rs 2,830-crore Dabur India has identified the foods segment in addition to skincare as areas it wishes to focus on in the coming quarters. Dabur India’s Vice-Chairman Amit Burman says these categories are critical for the company.

Why Dabur is bullish on these segments can be gauged from these figures: in the first half of this financial year, the company's foods portfolio saw a top line growth of 23 per cent. Its skincare portfolio, which has seen recent launches under the Uveda umbrella surged ahead on the back of a 43-per-cent growth rate.

The company meanwhile is set to launch its first-ever campaign for its Hommade range of cooking products next month. The campaign's thrust will be largely television, with the commercial to be launched in the south to begin with, subsequently moving to other parts of the country.

Dabur has hired advertising agency Law & Kenneth for the campaign. The 35-second commercial, directed by Pradeep Sarkar of Parineeta fame, dwells on cooking convenience for the urban Indian woman.

Dabur intends to keep the momentum going with new launches in the two areas. Reports in the past, for instance, have hinted about the company’s proposed foray into the ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook segments.

Burman says that the company is looking to expand its Hommade range of cooking products. It is also eying a ready-to-eat foray into exotic cuisines such as Thai, Italian or Chinese.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to get into the Indian ready-to-eat space. There are players there, plus Indians are familiar with local cuisine. It’s cuisines such as Thai, Italian or Chinese they are unfamiliar with. Popularising these cuisines would make greater sense,” he says.