MUMBAI, Apr 29: After tasting sweet success with its glucose powder brand Glucovita, Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting (WCCL) now plans to launch the product in the tablet form as well, a senior executive has said.
“We are going to launch a tablet Glucovita. You can have two tablets and get instant energy. You will not need water with it which makes it very easy on the go. We will be launching this product in the next two Weeks,” WCCL Senior Vice-President Anil Chugh told.
Though he did not divulge its pricing but said it will be launched in Tamil Nadu first, before a pan-India roll out.
“We will be doing it in Tamil Nadu first and then expand it as we go along. By the end of the year it will be rolled out across the country,” Chugh said. Wipro bought Glucovita from Hindustan Unilever for Rs 5 crore in 2003.
The maker of Santoor brand of soaps plans to introduce face wash under the same brand during the current fiscal. “We will be strengthening Santoor brand in face wash as well and will be launching it in FY13 definitely,” he said.
WCCL currently sells soaps, talcum powders, deodorants and hand wash under the Santoor brand. The FMCG player is also betting big on the male grooming category and plans a national roll out of Aramusk soaps this fiscal.
“Right now, it is sold in West Bengal. We will be taking Aramusk as a lead brand in male grooming segment and launch it nationally in next two to three months,” Chugh said.
Introduced by the erstwhile Calcutta Chemicals, Aramusk was the country’s oldest men’s soap and changed hands several times. Wipro bought it last year from city-based VVF.
The firm enjoys a market share of 8.4 per cent in the soap category – a Rs 10,000-crore market – with brands like Santoor, Chandrika, Aramusk and Yardley. WCCL has roped in Bollywood actor and British beauty pageant winner Amy Jackson for Yardley soap.
The company also plans to invest Rs 100 crore to ramp up its capacity across all product categories.
“We are planning to invest Rs 100 crore this fiscal to increase the capacity in various categories, be it lighting, soaps or personal care, to meet demand.
“We have been growing at 20-23 per cent and to enhance this we are going to do backward integration or enhance our capacities. In soaps we will increase capacity by at least 15-20 per cent because our growth in the category has been that much,” Chugh said.
The company is looking for more acquisitions in the FMCG space, both in India and abroad, as it plans to enhance its product portfolio. “We are open for more acquisitions. Anything that comes on our way which is of strategic fit to us, we will definitely evaluate,” he said.
WCCL’s first major overseas acquisition was the Singapore-based Unza Holdings for around Rs 1,000 crore in 2007, through which it operates in 40 countries. (PTI)
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