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Informist, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025

 

KOLKATA – In its quest to build a future-ready consumer goods business, Emami Ltd. will continue its play in niche categories which are less competitive and the company enjoys a substantial market share. At the same time, Emami will continue to diversify its product portfolio by entering new segments and strengthen the core business with focus on premiumising its portfolio.

 

"We are not here to play in overcrowded categories. We have established leadership in high-margin, high-potential spaces where others have yet to gain meaningful traction," Harsha V. Agarwal, vice chairman and managing director at Emami said in its Annual Report for 2024-25 (Apr-Mar). "Once we drive relevance and unlock mass appeal, growth will follow. And when it does, scale kicks in fast. And that is exactly where we are headed."

 

Agarwal said Emami's focus is not on personal care categories like soaps or toothpaste. Instead, the company has been focussing on and will continue to focus on niche spaces where household penetration is extremely low--in single digits or low double digits. He said that Emami holds leadership positions across several of these core categories and in most cases, face limited direct competition.

 

For instance, the top two revenue earning brands for Emami--Navratna and Zandu--are niche products. The Navratna brand focusses on cooling and heating hair oil and cool talc and Zandu is focussed on pain management products and healthcare products. Both these products, which are focused mostly on the lower end of the premium segment, have limited direct competitive products.

 

At the same time, Agarwal said that Emami is working on building new engines of growth. Health foods, nutrition, pet care and aloe vera based fruit juices, each one a deliberate strategic bet, Agarwal said adding that in the next three years- five years, Emami's portfolio will be much sharper and future-proof.

 

"A few years ago, we identified the need to be present in aspirational, high-growth segments. We acted early and invested in new age startups. Today, The Man Company and Brillare (brands), both now wholly owned, contribute more than 5% to our topline and form the core of our new-age premium portfolio," Agarwal said adding that these two brands are also advancing Emami's international business.

 

In the Zandu brand of business which is a core business for Emami, the company is driving innovation and scale through Zanducare--its direct-to-consumer online platform. This digital-first vertical has already launched over 100 products tailored for online health-conscious consumers.

 

Agarwal said that currently, around 45% of its revenue come from high-growth and strategically important sales channels like modern trade, e-commerce and institutional sales channels.

 

Emami will continue to focus on the rural consumers in its quest to premiumise the portfolio. According it's the company's annual report for FY25, about one and half years ago, rural demand for consumer goods was under pressure and demand from urban India was booming.

 

"But now, rural is bouncing back--and our pulse on these markets is real-time and relentless. Premium is soaring in urban India. We are playing that game too--but without losing sight of the real India, the rising middle and lower-middle income consumers where our brands carry weight," Agarwal said.

 

At a time when consumer goods companies are prioritising volume growth and some are resorting to discounts for their sales network to push sales volume, Emami has decided to reduce discounts to its sales channels and tighten efficiencies further.

 

"Our strength lies in the masstige and mass segments — where our brands speak directly to the heart of India. This is a high-potential, low-clutter battlefield. And we know it better than most. From where we stand, there is absolutely no need to play the discount game to tackle competition," Agarwal said.

 

At 1249 IST, shares of Emami traded 0.4% down at INR 609.30 on the National Stock Exchange. End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Avishek Rakshit

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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