Grasim Industries Ltd, the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, is foraying into the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) segment. The company will operate in three categories ? skincare, homecare and baby care. The skincare brand ? Kara (meaning pure) has already been launched in Gujarat. The other two categories will be unveiled by March. According to industry sources, the homecare brand has been christened ?Prim? and baby care one will be named ?Puretta?. The company will also launch a separate sanitary brand called ?Handys?.
Confirming these developments, Vijay Kaul, chief marketing officer, Grasim, told FE, ?We are in the pulp and fibre business. All skincare, homecare and baby care products are made out of viscose, which is a raw material that we produce. For us, launching these new categories will be a logical extension of our product portfolio since we already make viscose. And yes, all these products are FMCG goods.”
The company has been working on the project for the past two years.
?We have launched the first product, Kara wipes, under the skincare category in Gujarat in November last year since we have our manufacturing unit there. Also, it’s the tourist season in Gujarat, with foreigners flocking to the state in large numbers. International travelers are already familiar with wipes and so we decided to test-market the product in Gujarat,? Kaul said. The two categories – homecare and baby care – will be launched within March. ?All the three categories will be launched nationally, but in phases,? he added.
Under the Kara brand, the company has launched refreshing wipes of two variants ? mint with aloe vera and cucumber with aloe vera. Very shortly, the company will be launching moisturising wipes, toning wipes, and sunscreen wipes. The cost of each pack of wipe is Rs 250. The company is distributing the product through ‘More’, the retail chain of stores from the Aditya Birla stable.
?The advertising duty of these three categories has been awarded to Contract Advertising. However, unless all the three categories are launched, it is very difficult for us to formulate any marketing budget. Likewise, at this juncture, it is not possible for us to predict as to how much revenue will come in from these three categories,? added Kaul.