Indian Dish Wash Category

Market Snapshot

• Rs 400 to 450 crores branded dishwash category
• As per latest reports, dish care category is estimated to be around Rs. 1200, while the branded dishwash market is roughly 40%
• The percapita consumption of this category (value terms) in India is hardly Rs 4 while in UK it is Rs 150. There is long way to go for this category
• Dishwash bar category is huge: it's more than Rs 300-crore market churning out more than 1.2 lakh tonnes a year and growing at a CAGR of 20 per cent in the last five years. The dishwash powders market, however, is shrinking — it has fallen by 50 per cent from 3 lakh tonnes five years ago (2003 data)
• As per CII - The total size of the dish wash market, estimated at Rs 4.4 bn has recorded a negative growth of 3 per cent in 2003-04. Over 60 per cent of the market is dominated by bars, while dish wash powders accounts for 32 per cent. The penetration levels are, however, still very low.

Product Categories

1. Powder – outdated category. The players in this category are Vim, Sabena, Odopic
2. Bar – largest category (60 to 70%). Vim has created the dishwash bar category in 1993. Till that time urban households used dishwash powders. The bar offered many advantages to the homemaker over the powder which was messy and uneconomical. Since then Vim Bar ruled the dishwash market. The other brands present in this category are Nirma Clean Dish Wash, Nima Bartan Bar, Odopic, Exo, Private Labels (Spencer’s DishWash Bar etc)
3. Liquid (Dish Wash Concentrate) – evolving category, with Pril being the leader. Other players are Vim, Godrej Dish Wash, Godrej Glossy, Teepol, Private Labels (Spencer’s etc), some imported brands Good Maid
4. Dish Washing Paste (packed in a cup) – Axion and some imported brands like Budget (from the portfolio of Good Maid corp. SDN. BHD, Malasia)

Market/ Consumer Trends

• The trend has shifted from Powder to Bars and now its moving to Liquid dishwash
• The emerging category in dishwash market is the liquid dishwash. Pril from Henkel commands this market with a share of 70%. The other players are Vim, Teepol, Godrej
• Marketers beleive that over a period of time, consumers will shift to Liquid since it offers more economy and convenience. But there is a problem with this category: Liquid dishwash is targeted at urban upper middle class home makers and here the users are home maids rather than home makers. It will be difficult to teach house maids to use the liquid efficiently. But if you see recently there was a article in Business Line – Influence Sells, where Henkel has targeted the maids as they are influencer like a mechanic for car spare parts. Henkel undertook an intensive study, which involved talking to housewives about their dish-washing patterns and learnt that as products like Pril were expensive, they were reluctant to give it to maid servants to use and preferred scourers with an abrasive action
• While dishwash liquids do work efficiently against grease, consumers prefer scourers with an abrasive action to clean grease
• There is high sale of 400gm Vim in first week as compared to rest of weeks, as the wife has disposable income at the start of the monthly. Subsequently she may go for 200 or 100 gm as per requirement

Brand Details

Vim Journey

• Vim was initially positioned on the lemon content in the bar. The brand using its ingredients positioned itself on its Stain Removing benefit. The positioning was consistent through these years
• The brand changed its form, added new features and expanded the market to stay on the growth path. To reinforce the stain removing property , the brand repositioned in 2003 by introducing the Stain Cutter feature
• The company was trying to extend the brand from "Dish wash" to Kitchen Care market. The brand also created much inroads into the market with its Vim Challenge campaign which directly compared the brand with competition.
  Although Vim has launched its own variant, it failed to create an impact and was withdrawn in 2003
• 2006 saw a relaunch of Vim drop with Actor Madhavan endorsing the brand.
  To stay on top of this highly competitive market, Vim has invested not only in promotion but also in product improvements. In 2005, the brand took on the most problematic aspect of this category i.e the dishwash bar getting soggy. The reason is that these bars are kept near the sink and is always in contact with water and with in days, the bar gets messy. Vim then launched one of the most customer centric innovation at that time: Poly coated Vim bar. The coating prevented the bar from becoming soggy and hence the brand became more economical. This innovation is a testimony to HLL's ability to understand Indian consumer and translate that to product improvements
• Vim bar is strong in Maharashtra, Punjab, Delhi, Kolkata and Kerala

Pril

• HENKEL Spic India Ltd extended its dishwash liquid brand, Pril, the market leader in the category, to a dishwash bar in 2003
• 2006 saw a relaunch of Vim drop with Actor Madhavan endorsing the brand. Pril has countered the campaign using Shobana as the brand ambassador
• The bar has been designed with rounded edges so that use of the bar from its centre does not form a "mini pit" during use. Pril has been launched in three variants —vinegar + lime, vinegar + orange, vinegar + wildberry
• Henkel roped in Chef Sanjeev Kapoor to endorse the brand in past

Exo

• Exo brand has effectively differentiated itself by using its anti-bacterial property and uses the ingredient Trichlozene to reinforce the germ fighting positioning
• South centric
• Exo Dish Wash is also available as a liquid cleaner. Exo Dish Wash Liquid is the only anti bacterial dish wash liquid with Cyclozan as the active ingredient. Convenient and handy, this is ideal for stainless steel, crockery, cutlery and non-stick kitchen ware

Sabena

• The powder segment is dominated by Sabeena brand from ECOF. Sabena is very strong in the southern market and has a market share of over 65%
• The brand, which claims a market share of 65 per cent in the South, sells 4,800 tonnes of Sabena a month. One kg of powder sells for Rs 10 – strong in south only in 75000 retail outlets in South
  

Glossy: Specialized liquid cleaner for expensive and special utensils like glassware, non-stick ware, crockery, etc. It is meant to be used for the special kitchenware that requires gentle care. Glossy, with 'shine advancers' gives a sparkling shine to the utensils after cleaning, increasing its appeal on kitchen shelves. The formulation also ensures that there is no damage to the kitchenware

Category Substitute: In rural areas, Ash is used to clean utensils and the biggest hurdle in rural penetration of this category is to educate the rural folks to use Soap instead of ash. Still the penetration of branded dishwash category is low and has a high scope

Promotional Schemes in Past in Dish Wash Category

• Buy Vim bar and see under its wrapper. You could win a car, a house and some such great unbelievable prices, something that is unbelievable. And when one see the wrapper, there was an offer of 50 paisa off on next Vim bar you purchase
• Vim Gold Bar – Gold Free
• 45 g Meswak toothpaste free on purchase of 2 Odopic bars of 400 g
• 25000 wroth of insurance for maids

Pricing

• Bars are typically for Rs. 4 for 100 gm
• Liquid Dish Wash for Rs. 45 to 55 for 500ml (Private Labels are cheaper and run attractive schemes like 2+1 with MRP of Rs. 45). But there are some imported brands like Good Maid Bio is for Rs. 150 for 1000ml. Vim liquid comes in 150 and 225 gms for Rs. 15 and 25 respectively
• Vim powder is for Rs. 25 for 1Kg
• In dish washing paste, Budget is Rs. 50 for 400gm and Axion is for Rs. 24 for 200 gms (approx Rs. 12 per 100 gms). This category is priced premium to regular Dishwash bars

Manufacturing Facilities

• Axion is manufactured by Henkel India in Pondicherry (though it’s a trademark of colgate Palmolive)
• Budget is manufactured in Malasia (imported in India)
• Pril is from Henkel and is manufactured in Chennai
• Teepol is manufactured by Reckit Benkiser in Baddi, Solan
• Spencer Liquid is also manufactured in Chennai
• Vim is manufactured in Mumbai