To Stay Deeply Invested In Ayurveda, Aim Higher Levels Of Competitiveness, Says Emami

FMCG firm Emami aims to achieve higher levels of competitiveness in the present volatile economic environment and intends to "stay deeply invested" in its core area of Ayurveda, its Chairman RS Goenka said on Friday.

The Kolkata-headquartered company will emphasise on packaging innovations especially for low unit packs and bridge packs to drive up consumption amongst lower-end consumers amidst increasing inflation, Goenka said at the company's annual general meeting.

While focus on analytics and technology in sales and distribution will be further strengthened to drive the business ahead, Goenka said.

"Talking about our future roadmap, your company aims to achieve higher levels of competitiveness in a volatile economic environment," he said.

Emami, which owns Zandu Ayurveda and has a portfolio of over 300 products based on Ayurvedic formulations across its brands, believes "Ayurveda will continue to be more relevant," he said.

Citing a report from market research firm IMARC, Goenka said the Ayurveda market is expected to grow by around 15% during 2020-2025.

People are now more aware of the goodness and health benefits of Ayurveda, which the pandemic helped to bring into focus, especially in the categories of prevention and immunity.

"Continuing with this trend, your company also intends to stay deeply invested in our core area of Ayurveda," he said.

While talking about the current fiscal, Goenka said in the first quarter, Emami started on a strong note with revenue growth of 18%. Leading brands like Navratna, Kesh King and Fair and Handsome posted high double-digit growth.

While talking about the macro condition, Goenka said consumer preferences are changing and the Indian FMCG industry including Emami is all set to cater to this change.

In a post-pandemic world, a new India is emerging, which is more confident, more evolved, more health conscious and more tech-savvy, he said.

"Today’s India is buying more from e-marketplaces than from conventional retail outlets. Today’s Indian consumer has a millennial mindset who is willing to try out new products, new brands that can impress them with some differentiated offerings," Goenka added.

Now the digital medium is fast emerging as a key area for consumer-facing businesses today and through digital and social media, FMCG companies have a ready ground intelligence and are constantly launching new products developed using insights and customer feedback from these platforms.

Emami has also capitalised on this consumer transition and is now increasingly looking at D2C and eB2B segments.

"We have launched D2C websites for Zandu, Kesh King and BoroPlus," said Goenka, adding Emami has launched and marketed a range of e-commerce-specific products and digital-first brands like Onion Range under Kesh King, Gold and Therapy range under Navratna and more than 20 healthcare products under the Zanducare D2C platform in FY 22.

Its e-commerce revenues doubled and contributed 5.5% to its domestic business in FY 22 as against 2.8% in the previous year.

Besides, Emami is also expanding its distribution network in tier II and III cities and smaller towns that are leading the way in the Indian consumption story.

"We intend to almost double our rural coverage to 60,000 towns by FY24," he added.