Wipro confident of Santoor overtaking HUL's Lifebuoy as top soap brand

Billionaire Azim Premji-promoted Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting is confident of its brand Santoor dethroning rival FMCG major HUL's Lifebuoy as the market leader in the soap and personal care segment in the next one year, a top company official said.

Santoor, which has now become a ₹2,700-crore-plus brand, has made its way into liquid hand wash and some other adjacent categories, such as body lotion and body wash.

"We don't know if we are No. 1 yet, and what the size of Lifebuoy is, but it's a matter of time that we will become number one," Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting CEO Vineet Agrawal told PTI when asked about the brand Santoor and its prospects.

He further said, "We have already beaten Lux (another soap brand from HUL) a few years back, and I am confident that we will beat Lifebuoy in maybe a year from now."  According to media reports, Lifebuoy, which operates in the hygiene category, is also over Rs 2,000 crore. Like Santoor, Lifebuoy, too, now features in adjacent categories such as handwash, etc.

An email sent to HUL on the issue remained unanswered till the time of filing of the story.

Wipro, which posted over 7.5 per cent growth across the year in FY25 despite challenges in the market, struggled with low consumer sentiments and inflationary pressures.

The company, which has scaled its presence in the FMCG segment from personal care to food with a host of acquisitions.

"Well, I think most of the acquisitions that we have done, have done well for us. For example, Chandrika, which we acquired in 2004 was a small brand in Kerala. It has grown well. Yardley in India, when we acquired it in 2009, was just (worth) Rs 18 crore in India. And now it is over Rs 300 crore," he said.

Similarly Unza, which was acquired by Wipro in 2007, has grown five times in Southeast Asia.

Canway, which is a recent acquisition in 2020 in South Africa, has grown two and a half times from USD 20 million to USD 50 million in five years.

"They have done well because, I think... we had a reasonable good management strength when we bought it. And whatever moves we made in these brands, fortunately worked out well for us," said Agrawal.

Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting, part of Azim Premji-led Wipro Enterprises has a turnover of Rs 10,600 crore.