Kolkata-based Emami, best known for brands such as Zandu balm, Navratna cool oil, Dermicool and Boroplus cream in personal care and healthcare, will not enter mass consumer goods categories such as soaps and toothpastes, vice-chairman and MD Harsha V Agarwal said in the company’s FY25 annual report released Tuesday. Instead, the focus would remain on emerging spaces where competitors are yet to gain meaningful traction and the headroom for growth is significant, he said.
“We are not here to play in overcrowded categories like soaps or toothpastes. We are in niche spaces where household penetration is in low-single digits, may be double digits at best. That is not a weakness. That is headroom. That is opportunity,” he said.
New bets in nutrition, pet care and aloe-based beverages
Agarwal also said that the company was working on building new engines of growth including health food, nutrition, pet care and aloe-based fruit juices as it sought to get future-ready. These new bets follow recent acquisitions in these spaces including stakes in Tru Native F&B, which markets the TruNativ nutrition brand, pet-care startup Cannis Lupus Services and Axiom Ayurveda, which markets beverage brand AloFrut.
“In three to five years, our portfolio will be much sharper and future-proof. When it comes to acquisitions, we are not boxed in by size or scale. If an opportunity aligns with our long-term vision, investment is never a constraint,” he said.
On the other hand, Emami has taken its ownership to 100% in Helios Lifestyle, which markets The Man Company (online male grooming) as well as Brillare (professional beauty services). These businesses now contribute more than 5% to Emami’s topline and form the core of its new-age portfolio, he said.
From sachets to D2C: growing both ends of the market
The company, which closed FY25 with revenue of Rs 3,809.2 crore and net profit of Rs 899 crore, a growth of 6.5% and 10.9% versus the previous year, is also stepping up its focus on new demand spaces, Agarwal said, both at the lower and upper ends of the FMCG market. For instance, the company has recently introduced a Re 1 satchet of Navratna talc, a first for a talcum powder brand; it has taken Boroplus creams into gel format and launched organic variants of Kesh King hair oil and shampoos. Emami has also launched a D2C platform in healthcare called Zanducare, where it has launched over 100 products tailored to health-conscious consumers.
FY25 also saw the company revatilise its Fair and Handsome brand into Smart and Handsome, taking it from men’s fairness into the larger male grooming space. The brand, which has a turnover of over Rs 150 crore, saw a 7% sales growth in the fourth quarter of FY25, following the relaunch, the firm said.
Emami, experts said, has not been immune to the urban slowdown challenges, with sales declines seen in the Kesh King portfolio and The Man Company brands amid a broader discretionary slowdown. However, with an uptick in urban demand and an improvement in urban markets likely in FY26, experts say that these businesses, notably, The Man Company could return to the growth path. While Kesh King’s turnover is around Rs 225 crore; The Man Company’s topline is around Rs 200 crore, according to sector experts.
Emami’s largest brand though remains Zandu, with sales in excess of Rs 800 crore, according to analysts. The company has indicated that it is hoping to see Zandu touch Rs 1,000 crore in sales in the next couple of years, which will make it its first Rs 1,000-crore brand in its portfolio.