Royal Philips, a key player in health technology, on Tuesday announced the expansion of its production in India to encompass a broader range of the company’s Personal Health product categories.
During the press conference today, Deeptha Khanna, EVP and Chief Business Leader, Personal Health, Royal Philips revealed that the company has expanded production at its co-manufacturing site in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, which will now produce mother and childcare products in addition to the beauty and grooming products already being made at the site.
Philips also announced the launch of the Philips Beard Trimmer Series 1000 and Philips Hair Straightening Brush, both tailored to the needs of Indian consumers and manufactured locally.
Philips’ India manufacturing footprint extends across multiple sites, encompassing in-house facilities and collaborative co-manufacturing partnerships. It includes integrated infrastructure tailored to meet advanced technology demands and facilitate semi-automated assembly lines. The company’s capabilities serve both local and regional demand.
On key strategies for the segment growth in the India market, Khanna told Financial Express.com: “”Globally, we are very committed to the personal health segment…people are recognising that in order to live longer we have to live healthier, they are more open to technology and people are recognising that the first frontier of health is actually self-care. So, that’s why we have a big commitment to the personal health business. When we think about our ambition of the type of consumers we want to reach…India is a very important focus for us…we want to deeply understand the consumer insights of what does it take to create these early behaviour of self-care. So, our team spends a lot of time understanding these emerging needs and then they work with the global portfolio to decide what more additions or innovations are needed for this market.”
Moreover, Philips manufactures a range of hair care essentials including hairdryers, hair straighteners, and hairbrushes in the beauty category. Moreover, the company is also manufacturing Beard Trimmer 1000 Series designed to meet the specific needs of male consumers.
“Upholding its dedication to providing safety and hygiene, Philips is also producing sterilizers for the mother and childcare segment, all manufactured locally in India,” the company said in a statement.
“…with the local manufacturing expansion, it will allow us the opportunity to innovate fast and it will also help us in catering to consumers in a very agile as well as pro-consumer way and that’s really why a combination of using global portfolios with the right consumer needs and supplementing that with India manufacturing expansion is the way we see our business moving forward,” Deepali Agarwal, Head, Personal Health, Philips Indian Subcontinent told Financial Express.com.
During the press conference, Khanna also said that their multi-site development and production approach, combining in-house expertise with strategic co-manufacturing partnerships, will enable them “to support the market’s unique needs and to offer the best personal care and mother and childcare solutions.”
“We’ve also continued to expand with the launch of two Mother and Child Care products: the Grow Bottle and sterilizer – furthering our commitment to uniquely supporting the Indian market,” Agarwal added.
Philips’ Personal Health manufacturing presence in India includes sites in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, and a co-manufacturing facility in Silvassa Union Territory.
On diversification plans, Khanna told Financial Express.com: “The categories that we presented today genuinely have massive opportunity…if we look at market penetration not just for the India market but globally…many of these categories are not mature enough. There is a lot of room to grow the existing categories. So, we have a lot of prospects for organic expansion within these categories. We will continue to explore but we will talk about it when things are actually ready.”
