Colgate Palmolive to focus on volume growth in India, says MD Narasimhan

According to the new MD, the naturals market, which witnessed strong growth from 2016 to 2019, has started to plateau

Colgate Palmolive India is working on arresting the fall in its volume, and the company is creating strategies for the same. It will also focus on value growth by product premiumisation, Prabha Narasimhan, the newly appointed MD of the toothpaste major who joined from Hindustan Unilever, told analysts on Tuesday. 

She pointed out that India's per capita oral care consumption is very low. She explained that the consumption of the Philippines and Brazil is 1.8 times and 3.1 times that of India. 

Narasimhan also said that the naturals market, which witnessed strong growth from 2016 to 2019, has started to plateau. The segment grew by 900 basis points between 2016 and 2019, and between 2020 to 2022, it only grew by 40 basis points.

The company is also focused on building on the Palmolive brand and also launched a face care category, and it will also explore organic and inorganic ways to grow Palmolive. 

Colgate will focus on personal care and oral care and will also be on the lookout to enter other businesses. 

It has a general trade reach of  1.7 million stores, out of which 95 per cent of these stores are active every quarter. Modern trade has grown by 180 bps, and e-commerce has grown by 1040 bps. 

It also launched a new B-2-B platform exclusive to dentists to buy professional supplies called 'Dentist First,' which is currently in the beta phase and is expected to go live in 2023. 

Its own D2C website, www.cpbrush.co.in, launched in 2021, has grown 12 times year-on-year as only high-value products are sold on the platform.