Godrej eyes 7% pie in microwave oven market

Aims to garner Rs 100-crore turnover from the product in next 3 years

Backed by its new range of products in the higher price segment, the appliances division of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Limited hopes to garner a seven per cent share in the microwave ovens market in the first full year.

The company, which launched microwave ovens last year, aims to achieve a turnover of close to Rs 40 crore from microwave ovens in the first full year, and has set a target to achieve a turnover of Rs100 crore from the same category over the next three years.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Tuesday, Shyam Motwani, vice-president (marketing and exports, appliances division), Godrej & Boyce, said that the growth of microwave ovens in India was stupendous and it doubled the growth last year. In 2005, the total size of the microwave oven market in India was 5.5 lakh units with a value of about Rs 400 crore.

In 2006, the microwave oven sales is expected to touch 7 lakh units and the company expects to garner a 7 per cent market share in this category. "The compounded annual growth rate of microwave ovens market is about 50-60 per cent over the last few years. It is expected to touch one million units by 2009," he added.

Currently, the microwave ovens market in India is dominated by LG, Samsung, Kenstar and IFB. Motwani said that the company was seeing huge potential in the southern market as the region has always been an early adopter of technology, besides being nutrition-conscious and had better connect with Godrej brands. Along with the western region, the southern region is expected to contribute about 50-60 per cent to the total microwave oven turnover.

To kick start the new drive, the company has launched microwave ovens with 'powerwaves' technology for fast and uniform cooking as more and more women are hard-pressed for time and require faster cooking methods. There are three categories of microwave ovens "� solo, grill/combination and convection.

According to Motwani, higher price categories like grill and convection are the fastest growing segments, which are also the focus areas for Godrej. The company currently has five models in all the three categories with prices ranging between Rs 6,000 and Rs 15,000.

Godrej plans to spend six per cent of its sales on advertising and to rope in a team of chefs from reputed hotels for demonstrating microwave oven cooking, an initiative aimed at both for marketing purposes and for creating awareness. The company is targeting 100 malls in 15 cities to launch its campaigns in the next three months.

The company, at present, source its microwave ovens, designed based on its requirements, from two or three vendors in China. Setting up the company's own manufacturing facility would be considered once the volumes pick up, Motwani said.

Godrej appliances division include products such as DVD players, refrigerators, washing machines and air-conditioners. Refrigerators are the largest business of appliances as they account for over 50 per cent of the company's turnover, which was about Rs 550 crore last year.