Godrej Consumer Products on Tuesday launched low-cost liquid mosquito repellent device and a no-gas instant mosquito–kill spray. Branded Goodknight Mini Liquid and HIT No-Gas Spray, these innovations make safe and smoke free mosquito protection accessible for lower income consumers, the company claims.
According to a report by Markets and Markets, the global mosquito repellents market size was valued at $6.9 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach $9.0 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2021 to 2026. Godrej Consumer Products is a key player in the repellent space. Through its flagship brands like Goodknight and HIT, the company has over the years introduced many innovations across formats.
In 2016, GCPL also launched its CSR effort, the Elimination of Vector-Borne Endemic Diseases (EMBED) Project – in sync with India’s national goal of malaria elimination by 2030. This program is being implemented by Family Health India (FHI) in collaboration with NGO partners and the Health Department of the Government of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. EMBED aims to reduce morbidity and mortality due to malaria, dengue, and chikungunya in high burden areas. To date EMBED has been implemented in 9 districts of Madhya Pradesh, 4 districts in Uttar Pradesh and 2 districts in Chhattisgarh reaching over 5 lakh households across 2,000+ villages. GCPL’s EMBED program has been successful in creating a scalable model that can help high-burden villages of India achieve the goal of malaria elimination by 2030.
During the launch on Tuesday, Financial Express.com got the opportunity to speak to Sudhir Sitapati, MD & CEO, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) and he talked about market expectations, trends among others. Excerpts:
Godrej Consumer Goods has been a key player in the repellent market. You must have observed a trend with respect to mosquito-borne diseases in India over the years. What are your takeaways?
The issue with mosquitoes is two-forth: Firstly, malaria is coming down but dengue is going up. So, that’s a problem. There has been a lot of effort from the government’s side with respect to malaria management. Currently, the status of vector-borne diseases is certainly better than what it was five years ago. The problem with vector-borne diseases is that large part of the solution comes from illegal products where sometimes the cure is worse than the problem. So, cheap chemicals that are coming from China and over-dose in incense sticks…they are very efficacious against mosquitoes but they can also lead to respiratory illnesses.
Godrej Consumer Goods is also a leading player in the FMCG segment in India market. What have been your key milestones in this financial year? What is your outlook for FY24?
I think our key milestone in this financial year will these two launches be one of them. Secondly, in very difficult circumstances, in terms of commodity prices, gross margins…we continued spending behind our brands. We were able to generate a lot of free cash flow through efficiencies in inventory in working capital. So, in the first six months..it was a hyper-inflational situation…as consumers were coming out of COVID-19..so it was tough time. I think we have come out of it reasonably okay.
Could you please elaborate a bit more about the EMBED Project?
EMBED is a part of our CSR programme where we…in states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chattisgarh…in districts which are more malaria affected…we work with the district officials, knocking door to door, and teaching them effective ways of sanitation and hygiene. So, they can prevent malaria mosquitoes from breeding near their households. We have been doing this for six years and the results of this project have been stunning. In the districts we operate in…the malaria incidences have come down by 95 percent.
What are your key plans for the India market in the upcoming financial year?
We are looking forward to growing categories and not worrying about market share too much. So, building categories requires heavy investments…so to invest behind category development, to simplify our businesses is the second important thing. You will see a lot of our initiatives will be around category development.
What are your market expectations for the products launched today?
The liquid vapouriser is a 25 percent penetrate category…Sprays in India are some 10 percent penetrate category. In most of the world, overall household insecticide is 70 percent penetrate category. In most part of the world these two formats dominate because they are the best combination of safety and efficacy. Now, with affordability, I am hoping these two products become over a next 5-10 years pretty universal products and the usage of spurious and illegal products are not used anymore.
Anything else that you would like to add?
In the prevention of malaria and mosquito-borne diseases, don’t find solutions that are worse than the problem. I think a lot of people in India are doing it and that’s very unhealthy.