Indian urbanite a likely target for global cosmetic players

In a presentation given at the recent HBA show in New York, founder of Orna Skincare, Anshu Karundia, went to great lengths to underline the fact that limited distribution outlets in rural areas will continue to hold back development for some time.

In the big urban areas and the more developed regions consumers are behaving very differently though, with all market categories showing significant growth.

Cultural traits can define type of products​

“Certain cultural traits do prevail even in urban areas, where you can find that Indians still very much go for minimal products that are free of fuss,”​ said Karundia.

“This desire for simplicity means that Indians want a fuss-free bathroom, which in my opinion is likely to lead to opportunities for companies developing and marketing multi-use products,”​ she added.

As well as being divided up in terms of urban and rural areas, the distribution of wealth, and in turn the significance of the personal care industry, is also divided up on a regional basis.

Different wealth patterns, cultures and climates​

Karundia pointed out that each region within the sub-continent have different wealth patterns, different cultures and varying climates, which all has a bearing on the sort of personal care products people are looking for.

Splitting the regions up into five basic areas – North, West, South, Central and East – Kundria summarised that the North, West and South contain most of the wealthiest urban areas, while the Central and Eastern areas remained predominantly undeveloped in terms of personal care.

“For the moment big urban areas such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore still remain the primary focus of personal care players, while other major cities [such as Mangalore, Pune and Jodhpur] are proving increasingly attractive as Tier II targets.”​ Karundia said.

HPC Congress, Mumbai, 2010​

International personal care ingredient companies planning to target India in the future might want to add the HPC Congress, which will take in Mumbai India from 2 – 3 December 2010.

The event will aim to tap into market growth that the HCP organisers say is currently valued at $6.2bn and estimated to be growing at 13 per cent per annum.