Patanjali preparing to regain toothpaste mkt, expand distribution channels

Patanjali is strengthening its distribution system by expanding it from the current one million outlets to about 1.5 million outlets

After having lost ground to Dabur and Colgate in the toothpaste market, Ayurvedic and FMCG products company, Patanjali is preparing for a comeback, Financial Express (FE) reported. To this end, Patanjali has launched an aggressive marketing and distribution campaign to multiply sales.

Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali has put up advertisements calling Patanjali's toothpaste 'Dant Kanti' as the 'truthpaste' as part of its campaign. The advertisements are focused on reminding consumers of the chemicals present in toothpaste from other brands while projecting Patanjali's products as a result of natural ingredients.

In addition to the marketing push, Patanjali is also strengthening its distribution system by expanding it from the current one million outlets to about 1.5 million outlets. The company aims to take the outlet count to two million. The expansion will happen in phases, FE reported.

CEO and MD of Colgate, Prabha Narasimhan had said last month that the market for natural toothpaste did not have much scope for expansion. On the other hand, Dabur India's CEO, Mohit Malhotra said that the naturals segment still stood at around 30 per cent of the total toothpaste sales in the country, the FE report added.

Malhotra was quoted in the report as saying that the natural toothpastes will continue to take business from regular white dental creams. Notably, Dabur has an extensive portfolio of ayurvedic and herbal toothpastes which include Dabur Red Paste, Meswak, Babool, and Dabur Herb'l etc.

Citing data from a Nielsen report, the FE report said that the FMCG market would grow at 7-9 per cent in the calendar year 2023. The growth is likely to see a significant contribution from rural areas. Easing inflation will add to the volume growth unlike in 2022 when the rise in price was the primary factor behind growth.