L’Oreal SA, the world’s largest cosmetics company, has doubled down on the India market with the launch of its dermatological beauty division, its third-largest unit by revenue. The development is significant since direct-to-consumer brands such as Mamaearth have been making significant inroads into the nearly Rs 4,100-crore derma cosmetics market in India, among the fastest growing sub-segments within the larger beauty and personal care market in the country.
Products here typically address specific skincare and haircare needs, and are recommended by dermatologists. Products are available both online and offline, depending on the channel strategy of players.
Aspiring to make India a billion-euro market (Rs 8,900 crore) in the next three to five years from a half-billion euros now (Rs 4,450 crore), L’Oreal is wasting no time. The company kicked off the new unit’s launch with the introduction of its American skincare brand CeraVe into India at a starting point of Rs 315 for skin cleansers. Price points of CeraVe products go right up to Rs 1,800 per unit depending on the skin condition and treatment.
“The derma cosmetics market shows enormous potential and is growing twice as fast as the overall beauty market in the country. Globally, L’Oreal is the leader in derma cosmetics. The ambition would be to achieve a similar milestone in India, by providing accessible solutions to Indian consumers,” Rami Itany, director, L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty, L’Oréal India, said.
While the company is currently importing CeraVe products into the country, it may consider local manufacturing once the business acquires scale in the future. Some other global brands from the dermatological beauty division such as La Roche-Posay and Vichy may also find their way into the Indian market in the future, the company said, depending on the response to CeraVe.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Honasa Consumer, which is the parent company of Mamaearth, a natural beauty and personal care brand, said The Derma Co, which is a science-backed skincare brand had achieved monthly sales of Rs 30 crore within three-and-a-half years of launch, outpacing its flagship brand.
“Being the second brand from our house, we deployed the playbooks that were created from our learnings from Mamaearth’s journey. Through the incubation and scale up phase, we realised we’ve reached milestones faster than Mamaearth,” Varun Alagh, co-founder, chairman & chief executive officer, Honasa Consumer, said.
A recent Redseer report projects the domestic beauty and personal care (BPC) market to grow at the rate of 10% per annum between 2023 and 2027 to touch $30 billion in size. This will be faster than China and Indonesia, where growth rates are expected to be 7% and 8% per annum, respectively, Redseer said. Growth will be led by a growing base of middle-class consumers and the need for quality, yet affordable beauty products. Pure-play beauty players such as L’Oreal, Nykaa, Mamaearth and Sugar Cosmetics are already at the forefront of growth, ahead of beauty divisions attached to fast-moving consumer goods company, Redseer said.