Diversified conglomerate ITC’s hygiene brand ‘Savlon’ has become an over Rs 1,000 crore brand in terms of consumer spends, backed by heightened demands for hygiene products amid the ongoing Covid pandemic.

The cigarette-to-FMCG-to-hotel major had acquired Savlon in 2015 as a niche antiseptic liquid brand from Johnson & Johnson, primarily for use in India in order to expand its non-cigarette FMCG portfolio. This was the first purchase in its personal care segment.

Notably, Savlon has become the first brand which clocked Rs 1,000 crore in terms of annual consumer spend in the Personal Care category of the Kolkata-based conglomerate. Consumer spends on this brand was around Rs 250 crore in FY20.

“In just seven years, the company has been able to transform the brand into a holistic hygiene brand with a wide range of offerings, unlocking its true value in return. The brand has grown by more than 10 times since it was acquired, to become a Rs 1,000 crore + brand in terms of consumer spends and continues to gain consumer franchise,” Sameer Satpathy, divisional chief executive, Personal Care Products Business, ITC, told FE.

Such rapid transformation of the brand has been made possible through a continuous pursuit of innovation, which is rooted into consumer insights and R&D capabilities, according to Satpathy. The pandemic has accelerated the penetration and adoption of products under Hygiene & Health categories.

Savlon was successfully extended from an antiseptic liquid brand to also include hand hygiene with a range of innovative formats. During the pandemic, the brand was successfully extended to include surface hygiene with several launches like surface cleaners, cloth disinfectant sprays, wipes and masks,” Satpathy said.

According to industry estimates, overall size of antiseptic liquid category is now Rs 1,100 crore, where ITC is no. 2 player in the country. Overall size of handwash category stands at Rs 1,081 crore, and Savlon handwash is no. 3 in the country with around 13.50% market share (as of December, 2020).

ITC’s market share (as of December, 2020) is 48.1% in the disinfectant spray category, where the overall market size of the category stands at Rs 300 crore.