FMCG major Marico is looking to keep raising its market share in the value added hair oils category “very aggressively” by introducing more product variants.

The company, which is the market leader in the Rs 8,000 crore value-added hair oil category, currently has over 25% market share in value terms.

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“The value-added hair oils category in between did struggle a bit because of inflation. But, thankfully with inflation going down we are seeing the growth recovery happening. Our aspiration will be to keep increasing the market share. That is why you will see a lot of activities happening in the last two-three months.

“We have done a lot of communications not just on Nihar Naturals. We have done it on Nihar Shanti Amla and on the entire Parachute Advanced range,” Marico chief marketing officer Somasree Bose Awasthi told reporters here on Friday.

In the value added hair oils category, the company has major brands like Nihar Naturals, Parachute Advansed and Hair & Care.

Apart from introducing more product variants, the company’s objective is to increase its investment on promotions.

“Overall a lot of new communication is coming up. We are not just focussing on West Bengal or Hindi speaking markets. We are also focussing on a lot of south (India) with hair fall variants,” Awasthi informed.

According to her, growth recovery has started on the industry level and there is a lot more potential for growth going forward. “With all these new launches and new communications, the objective will be to gain market share. Our objective will definitely be very aggressive on that…All the markets are our focus areas,” she said.

During Marico’s Q4FY23 earnings conference call in May, the company said value growth in the VAHO (value-added hair oils) portfolio was in mid-single digits on a four-year CAGR basis, lower than its medium-term aspiration, owing to the extended slowdown in rural. It was also affected by some other issues in terms of commoditization.

However, rural growth in VAHO category has started improving quarter-on-quarter. The company is now focussing on clocking “a double-digit growth” in VAHO in the next three years.

Nuvama Institutional Equities, in its note, said Marico’s domestic business volumes grew 5% year-on-year. However, value growth was 2% y-o-y during Q4FY23 due to price cuts in Parachute coconut oil and Saffola edible oil.

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Asked whether the company has any plan to cut prices in VAHO segment too, Awasthi said, “We have not cut the prices of value-added hair oils at all. As of now we have no such plan.”

The value added hair oils category had delivered value growth of 14% in FY22, while volumes grew in double digits. The company had consolidated its leadership position at 37% volume market share and 27% value market share during FY22, according to the company’s annual report.