ITC expects Savlon to become Rs 1,000-crore brand by fiscal end

Diversified conglomerate ITC expects Savlon to become a Rs 1,000-crore brand in terms of annual consumer spend by this fiscal end, backed by heightened demands for hygiene products.

Last fiscal, consumer spend on this brand was around Rs 250 crore.

“Savlon has done extremely well for the last few years. It has grown 50% year-on-year for five years. And the size of the brand is 15-16 times more than when we had acquired the brand…We would be disappointed if we don’t make Savlon a Rs 1,000-crore brand in terms of consumer spend this year,” Sameer Satpathy, chief executive, personal care products business, ITC, said on Wednesday.

The cigarette-to-FMCG-to-hotel major had acquired Savlon and Shower To Shower from Johnson & Johnson in 2015, primarily for use in India in order to expand its non-cigarette FMCG portfolio. This was its first purchase in the personal care segment.

While the company has major brands like Aashirvaad (nearly Rs 6,000-cr last fiscal), Sunfeast (over Rs 4,000 cr), Bingo! (nearly Rs 2,700 cr) and YiPPee! (Rs 1,300 cr) in the Staples, Snacks and Meals category, and Classmate (nearly Rs 1,400 cr) in Education and Stationery Products category, Savlon would be the first brand in Personal Care category to clock Rs 1,000 crore in terms of annual consumer spend.

The company has launched several products under Savlon during the Covid-19 outbreak. “A heightened awareness for personal hygiene led to a surge in demand for products such as hand sanitisers, handwash… The company expanded manufacturing capacity and enhanced availability of Savlon antiseptic liquid, soap, hand wash, hand-sanitisers and Fiama handwash products in the market. All formats of Savlon grew strongly, driven by a significant surge in demand,” Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said after ITC announced its Q1 results in July.

According to the company, it has to ramp up productions by almost 300 times during the pandemic to cater to the increasing demands for products under Savlon. It is optimistic that after the pandemic, Savlon would continue to do well.