NEW DELHI: Homegrown FMCG major Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) is betting big on its range of hygiene products amid the COVID-19 crisis and plans to build the category as its "new core" over the next three years. Under its hygiene brand “Protekt”, the company introduced a range of products foraying into new segments such as home, personal care and kitchen hygiene. Until now, it was present only in the hand hygiene segment.
“The pandemic has made people more conscious about hygiene more than ever and our purpose is to alleviate this concern in all possible ways. From just hand washing products, we have become a complete hygiene-suit for home, kitchen and personal use,” said Sunil Kataria, CEO, India and SAARC, GCPL. As a brand, Godrej Protekt aims to grow 7-8 times its size to be a Rs. 500 crore brand by 2023, he added.
The new range includes germ-protection dish wash liquid, air and surface disinfectant spray, soaps, fruit and vegetable wash, masks, surface and skin anti-bacterial wipes. Designed for one-time use, it has also launched hand sanitiser in a sachet format at a price of Re 1 for the first time.
According to Kataria, several of these initiatives were already in the pipeline. “While the virus-led lockdown and the subsequent supply chain disruption saw push-back in some launches, we advanced the launch of the rest to meet the emerging need in the market. We are now seeing a huge change in consumers approaching hygiene as a category,” he added.
Other companies such as Dabur, ITC and Emami have also rolled antibacterial hygiene soaps hoping to exploit a surge in demand for such products amidst the pandemic. “Prioritisation of health and hygiene will drive growth in the medium term. In fact, the communication around soaps will shift from displaying beauty-related benefits to highlighting immunity and protection,” said Abneesh Roy, executive vice-president (institutional equities) at Edelweiss Securities, adding that even beauty products might come with an "immunity booster".