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Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)

Products which have a quick turnover, and relatively low cost are known as Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). FMCG products are those that get replaced within a year. Examples of FMCG generally include a wide range of frequently purchased consumer products such as toiletries, soap, cosmetics, tooth cleaning products, shaving products and detergents, as well as other non-durables such as glassware, bulbs, batteries, paper products, and plastic goods. FMCG may also include pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, packaged food products, soft drinks, tissue paper, and chocolate bars. India’s FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy and creates employment for more than three million people in downstream activities. Its principal constituents are Household Care, Personal Care and Food & Beverages. The total FMCG market is in excess of Rs. 85,000 Crores. It is currently growing at double digit growth rate and is expected to maintain a high growth rate. FMCG Industry is characterized by a well established distribution network, low penetration levels, low operating cost, lower per capita consumption and intense competition between the organized and unorganized segments.
The Rs 85,000-crore Indian FMCG industry is expected to register a healthy growth in the third quarter of 2008-09 despite the economic downturn. The industry is expected to register a 15% growth in Q3 2008-09 as compared to the corresponding period last year. Unlike other sectors, the FMCG industry did not slow down since Q2 2008. The industry is doing pretty well, bucking the trend. As it is meeting the every-day demands of consumers, it will continue to grow. In the last two months, input costs have come down and this will reflect in Q3 and Q4 results.
Market share movements indicate that companies such as Marico Ltd and Nestle India Ltd, with domination in their key categories, have improved their market shares and outperformed peers in the FMCG sector. This has been also aided by the lack of competition in the respective categories. Single product leaders such as Colgate Palmolive India Ltd and Britannia Industries Ltd have also witnessed strength in their respective categories, aided by innovations and strong distribution. Strong players in the economy segment like Godrej Consumer Products Ltd in soaps and Dabur in toothpastes have also posted market share improvement, with revived growth in semi-urban and rural markets.



History of FMCG in India
In India, companies like ITC, HLL, Colgate, Cadbury and Nestle have been a dominant force in the FMCG sector well supported by relatively less competition and high entry barriers (import duty was high). These companies were, therefore, able to charge a premium for their products. In this context, the margins were also on the higher side. With the gradual opening up of the economy over the last decade, FMCG companies have been forced to fight for a market share. In the process, margins have been compromised, more so in the last six years (FMCG sector witnessed decline in demand).

Current Scenario
The growth potential for FMCG companies looks promising over the longterm horizon, as the per-capita consumption of almost all products in the country is amongst the lowest in the world. As per the Consumer Survey by KSATechnopak, of the total consumption expenditure, almost 40% and 8% was accounted by groceries and personal care products respectively. Rapid urbanization, increased literacy and rising per capita income are the key growth drivers for the sector. Around 45% of the population in India is below 20 years of age and the proportion of the young population is expected to increase in the next five years. Aspiration levels in this age group have been fuelled by greater media exposure, unleashing a latent demand with more money and a new mindset. In this backdrop, industry estimates suggest that the industry could triple in value by 2015 (by some estimates, the industry could double in size by
2010). Testing times for the FMCG sector are over and driving rural penetration will be the key going forward. Due to infrastructure constraints (this influences the cost-effectiveness of the supply chain), companies were unable to grow faster. Although companies like HLL and ITC have dedicated initiatives targeted at the rural market, these are still at a relatively nascent stage.
The bottlenecks of the conventional distribution system are likely to be removed once organized retailing gains in scale. Currently, organized retailing accounts for
just 3% of total retail sales and is likely to touch 10% over the next 3-5 years. In our view, organized retailing results in discounted prices, forced-buying by offering many choices and also opens up new avenues for growth for the FMCG sector. Given the aggressive expansion plans of players like Pantaloon, Trent, Shopper’s Stop and Shoprite, FMCG sector has a bright future.
India offers a large and growing market of 1 billion people of which 300 million are middle class consumers. India offers a vibrant market of youth and vigor with 54% of population below the age of 25 years. These young people work harder, earn more, spend more and demand more from the market, making India a dynamic and aspirational society. Domestic demand is expected to double over the ten-year period from 1998 to 2007. The number of households with "high income" is expected to increase by 60% in the next four years to 44 million households.
India is rated as the fifth most attractive emerging retail market. It has been ranked second in a Global Retail Development Index of 30 developing countries drawn up by A T Kearney. A.T. Kearney has estimated India's total retail market at $202.6 billion, is expected to grow at a compounded 30 per cent over the next five years. The share of modern retail is likely to grow from its current 2 per cent to 15-20 percent over the next decade, analysts feel.
The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy with a total market size in excess of US$ 13.1 billion. The FMCG market is set to treble from US$ 11.6 billion in 2003 to US$ 33.4 billion in 2015. Penetration level as well as per capita consumption in most product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, hair wash etc in India is low indicating the untapped market potential. Burgeoning Indian population, particularly the middle class and the rural segments, presents an opportunity to makers of branded products to convert consumers to branded products.
India is one of the world’s largest producers for a number of FMCG products but its FMCG exports are languishing at around Rs 1,000 crore only.
There is significant potential for increasing exports but there are certain factors inhibiting this. Small-scale sector reservations limit ability to invest in technology and quality up gradation to achieve economies of scale. Moreover, lower volume of higher value added products reduce scope for export to developing countries.
The FMCG sector has traditionally grown at a very fast rate and has generally out performed the rest of the industry. Over the last one year, however the rate of growth has slowed down and the sector has recorded sales growth of just five per cent in the last four quarters.
The outlook in the short term does not appear to be very positive for the sector. Rural demand is on the decline and the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has already downscaled its projection for agriculture growth in the current fiscal. Poor monsoon in some states, too, is unlikely to help matters.
Moreover, the general slowdown in the economy is also likely to have an adverse impact on disposable income and purchasing power as a whole. The growth of imports constitutes another problem area and while so far imports in this sector have been confined to the premium segment, FMCG companies estimate they have already cornered a four to six per cent market share. The high burden of local taxes is another reason attributed for the slowdown in the industry. At the same time, the long term outlook for revenue growth is positive. Give the large market and the requirement for continuous repurchase of these products, FMCG companies should continue to do well in the long run. Moreover, most of the companies are concentrating on cost reduction and supply chain management. This should yield positive results for them.
Industry Category and Products
Household Care

Personal Wash:-

The market size of personal wash is estimated to be around Rs. 8,300 Cr. The personal wash can be segregated into three segments: Premium, Economy and Popular. The penetration level of soaps is 92 per cent. It is available in 5 million retail stores, out of which, 75 per cent are in the rural areas. HUL is the leader with market share of ~53 per cent; Godrej occupies second position with market share of 10 per cent. With increase in disposable incomes, growth in rural demand is expected to increase because consumers are moving up towards premium products. However, in the recent past there has not been much change in the volume of premium soaps in proportion to economy soaps, because increase in prices has led some consumers to look for cheaper substitutes.

Detergents:-
The size of the detergent market is estimated to be Rs. 12,000 Cr. Household care segment is characterized by high degree of competition and high level of penetration. With rapid urbanization, emergence of small pack size and sachets, the demand for the household care products is flourishing. The demand for detergents has been growing but the regional and small unorganized players account for a major share of the total volume of the detergent market. In washing powder HUL is the leader with 38 per cent of market share. Other major players are Nirma, Henkel and Proctor & Gamble.

Personal Care
Skin Care:-
The total skin care market is estimated to be around Rs. 3,400 Cr. The skin care market is at a primary stage in India. The penetration level of this segment in India is around 20 per cent. With changing life styles, increase in disposable incomes, greater product choice and availability, people are becoming aware about personal grooming. The major players in this segment are Hindustan Unilever with a market share of 54 per cent, followed by CavinKare with a market share of 12 per cent and Godrej with a market share of 3 per cent.

Hair Care:-
The hair care market in India is estimated at around Rs. 3,800 Cr. The hair care market can be segmented into hair oils, shampoos, hair colorants & conditioners, and hair gels. Marico is the leader in Hair Oil segment with market share of 33 per cent; Dabur occupies second position at 17 per cent.

Shampoos:-
The Indian shampoo market is estimated to be around Rs. 2,700 Cr. It has the penetration level of only 13 per cent in India. Sachet makes up to 40 per cent of the total shampoo sale. It has low penetration level even in metros. Again the market is dominated by HUL with around ~47 per cent market share; P&G occupies second position with market share of around ~23 per cent. Antidandruff segment constitutes around 15 per cent of the total shampoo market. The market is further expected to increase due to increased marketing by players and availability of shampoos in affordable sachets.

Oral Care:-
The oral care market can be segmented into toothpaste - 60 per cent; toothpowder - 23 per cent; toothbrushes - 17 per cent. The total toothpaste market is estimated to be around Rs. 3,500 Cr. The penetration level of toothpowder/toothpaste in urban areas is three times that of rural areas. This segment is dominated by Colgate-Palmolive with market share of ~49 per cent, while HUL occupies second position with market share of ~30 per cent. In toothpowders market, Colgate and Dabur are the major players. The oral care market, es-pecially toothpastes, remains under penetrated in India with penetration level ~50 per cent.
Food & Beverages
Food Segment :-
The foods category in FMCG is gaining popularity with a swing of launches by HUL, ITC, Godrej, and others. This category has 18 major brands aggregating Rs. 4,600 Cr. Nestle and Amul slug it out in the powders segment. The food category has also seen innovations like softies in ice creams, ready to eat rice by HUL and pizzas by both GCMMF and Godrej Pillsbury.

Tea :-
The major share of tea market is dominated by unorganized players. More than 50 per cent of the market share is capture by unorganized players. Leading branded tea players are HUL and Tata Tea.

Coffee :-
The Indian beverage industry faces over supply in segments like coffee and tea. However, more than 50 per cent of the market share is in unpacked or loose form. The major players in this segment are Nestlé, HUL and Tata Tea.

Growth Prospect
Large Market
India has a population of more than 1.150 Billions which is just behind China. According to the estimates, by 2030 India population will be around 1.450 Billion and will surpass China to become the World largest in terms of population. FMCG Industry which is directly related to the population is expected to maintain a robust growth rate.

Spending Pattern
An increase is spending pattern has been witnessed in Indian FMCG market. There is an upward trend in urban as well as rural market and also an increase in spending in organized retail sector. An increase in disposable income, of household mainly because of in-crease in nuclear family where both the husband and wife are earning, has leads to growth rate in FMCG goods.

Changing Profile and Mind Set of Consumer
People are becoming conscious about health and hygienic. There is a change in the mind set of the Consumer and now looking at “Money for Value” rather than “Value for Money”. We have seen willingness in consumers to move to evolved products/ brands, because of changing lifestyles, rising disposable income etc. Consumers are switching from economy to premium product even we have witnessed a sharp increase in the sales of packaged water and water purifier.
Findings according to a recent survey by A. C. Nielsen shows about 71 per cent of Indian take notice of packaged goods labels containing nutritional information compared to two years ago which was only 59 per cent.

Advantages To The Sector

Governmental Policy
Indian Government has enacted policies aimed at attaining international competitiveness through lifting of the quantitative restrictions, reducing excise duties, automatic foreign in-vestment and food laws resulting in an environment that fosters growth. 100 per cent ex-port oriented units can be set up by government approval and use of foreign brand names is now freely

Central & State Initiatives
Recently Government has announced a cut of 4 per cent in excise duty to fight with the slowdown of the Economy. This announcement has a positive impact on the industry. But the benefit from the 4 per cent reduction in excise duty is not likely to be uniform across FMCG categories or players. The changes in excise duty do not impact cigarettes (ITC, Godfrey Phillips), biscuits (Britannia Industries, ITC) or ready-to-eat foods, as these prod-ucts are either subject to specific duty or are exempt from excise. Even players with manu-facturing facilities located mainly in tax-free zones will also not see material excise duty savings. Only large FMCG-makers may be the key ones to bet and gain on excise cut.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Automatic investment approval (including foreign technology agreements within specified norms), up to 100 per cent foreign equity or 100 per cent for NRI and Overseas Corporate Bodies (OCBs) investment, is allowed for most of the food processing sector except malted food, alcoholic beverages and those reserved for small scale industries (SSI). There is a continuous growth in net FDI Inflow. There is an increase of about 150 per cent in Net Inflow for Vegetable Oils & Vanaspati for the year 2008.

Market Opportunities
Vast Rural Market
Rural India accounts for more than 700 Million consumers, or 70 per cent of the Indian population and accounts for 50 per cent of the total FMCG market. The working rural population is approximately 400 Millions. And an average citizen in rural India has less then half of the purchasing power as compare to his urban counterpart. Still there is an untapped market and most of the FMCG Companies are taking different steps to capture rural market share. The market for FMCG products in rural India is estimated 52 per cent and is projected to touch ~ 60 per cent within a year. Hindustan Unilever Ltd is the largest player in the industry and has the widest market coverage.

Export - “Leveraging the Cost Advantage”
Cheap labor and quality product & services have helped India to represent as a cost ad-vantage over other Countries. Even the Government has offered zero import duty on capital goods and raw material for 100% export oriented units. Multi National Companies out-source its product requirements from its Indian company to have a cost advantage.
India is the largest producer of livestock, milk, sugarcane, coconut, spices and cashew apart from being the second largest producer of rice, wheat, fruits & vegetables. It adds a cost advantage as well as easily available raw materials.

Sectoral Opportunities
Major Key Sectoral opportunities for Indian FMCG Sector are mentioned
below:

Dairy Based Products
India is the largest milk producer in the world, yet only around 15 per cent of the milk is processed. The organized liquid milk business is in its infancy and also has large long-term growth potential. Even investment opportunities exist in value-added products like desserts, puddings etc.

Packaged Food
Only about 10-12 per cent of output is processed and consumed in packaged form, thus highlighting the huge potential for expansion of this industry.

Oral Care
The oral care industry, especially toothpastes, remains under penetrated in India with penetration rates around 50 per cent. With rise in per capita incomes and awareness of oral hygiene, the growth potential is huge. Lower price and smaller packs are also likely to drive potential up trading.

Beverages
Indian tea market is dominated by unorganized players. More than 50% of the market share is capture by unorganized players highlighting high potential for organized players.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:
• Low operational costs
• Presence of established distribution networks in both urban and rural areas
• Presence of well-known brands in FMCG sector
Weaknesses:
• Lower scope of investing in technology and achieving economies of scale, especially in small sectors
• Low exports levels
• "Me-too” products, which illegally mimic the labels of the established brands. These products narrow the scope of FMCG products in rural and semi-urban market.
Opportunities:
• Untapped rural market
• Rising income levels, i.e. increase in purchasing power of consumers
• Large domestic market- a population of over one billion.
• Export potential
• High consumer goods spending
Threats:
• Removal of import restrictions resulting in replacing of domestic brands
• Slowdown in rural demand
• Tax and regulatory structure

Hindustan Unilever Limited
In the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbour noticed crates full of Sunlight soap bars, embossed with the words "Made in England by Lever Brothers". With it, began an era of marketing branded Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).
Soon after followed Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like Pears, Lux and Vim. Vanaspati was launched in 1918 and the famous Dalda brand came to the market in 1937.
In 1931, Unilever set up its first Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company, followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders Limited (1935). These three companies merged to form HUL in November 1956; HUL offered 10% of its equity to the Indian public, being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do so. Unilever now holds 52.10% equity in the company. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among about 360,675 individual shareholders and financial institutions.
The erstwhile Brooke Bond's presence in India dates back to 1900. By 1903, the company had launched Red Label tea in the country. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co. India Limited was formed. Brooke Bond joined the Unilever fold in 1984 through an international acquisition. The erstwhile Lipton's links with India were forged in 1898. Unilever acquired Lipton in 1972, and in 1977 Lipton Tea (India) Limited was incorporated.
Pond's (India) Limited had been present in India since 1947. It joined the Unilever fold through an international acquisition of Chesebrough Pond's USA in 1986.
Since the very early years, HUL has vigorously responded to the stimulus of economic growth. The growth process has been accompanied by judicious diversification, always in line with Indian opinions and aspirations.
The liberalisation of the Indian economy, started in 1991, clearly marked an inflexion in HUL's and the Group's growth curve. Removal of the regulatory framework allowed the company to explore every single product and opportunity segment, without any constraints on production capacity.
Simultaneously, deregulation permitted alliances, acquisitions and mergers. In one of the most visible and talked about events of India's corporate history, the erstwhile Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO) merged with HUL, effective from April 1, 1993. In 1996, HUL and yet another Tata company, Lakme Limited, formed a 50:50 joint venture, Lakme Unilever Limited, to market Lakme's market-leading cosmetics and other appropriate products of both the companies. Subsequently in 1998, Lakme Limited sold its brands to HUL and divested its 50% stake in the joint venture to the company.
HUL formed a 50:50 joint venture with the US-based Kimberly Clark Corporation in 1994, Kimberly-Clark Lever Ltd, which markets Huggies Diapers and Kotex Sanitary Pads. HUL has also set up a subsidiary in Nepal, Unilever Nepal Limited (UNL), and its factory represents the largest manufacturing investment in the Himalayan kingdom. The UNL factory manufactures HUL's products like Soaps, Detergents and Personal Products both for the domestic market and exports to India.
The 1990s also witnessed a string of crucial mergers, acquisitions and alliances on the Foods and Beverages front. In 1992, the erstwhile Brooke Bond acquired Kothari General Foods, with significant interests in Instant Coffee. In 1993, it acquired the Kissan business from the UB Group and the Dollops Icecream business from Cadbury India.
As a measure of backward integration, Tea Estates and Doom Dooma, two plantation companies of Unilever, were merged with Brooke Bond. Then in 1994, Brooke Bond India and Lipton India merged to form Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited (BBLIL), enabling greater focus and ensuring synergy in the traditional Beverages business. 1994 witnessed BBLIL launching the Wall's range of Frozen Desserts. By the end of the year, the company entered into a strategic alliance with the Kwality Icecream Group families and in 1995 the Milkfood 100% Icecream marketing and distribution rights too were acquired.
Finally, BBLIL merged with HUL, with effect from January 1, 1996. The internal restructuring culminated in the merger of Pond's (India) Limited (PIL) with HUL in 1998. The two companies had significant overlaps in Personal Products, Speciality Chemicals and Exports businesses, besides a common distribution system since 1993 for Personal Products. The two also had a common management pool and a technology base. The amalgamation was done to ensure for the Group, benefits from scale economies both in domestic and export markets and enable it to fund investments required for aggressively building new categories.
In January 2000, in a historic step, the government decided to award 74 per cent equity in Modern Foods to HUL, thereby beginning the divestment of government equity in public sector undertakings (PSU) to private sector partners. HUL's entry into Bread is a strategic extension of the company's wheat business. In 2002, HUL acquired the government's remaining stake in Modern Foods.
In 2003, HUL acquired the Cooked Shrimp and Pasteurised Crabmeat business of the Amalgam Group of Companies, a leader in value added Marine Products exports.
HUL launched a slew of new business initiatives in the early part of 2000’s. Project Shakti was started in 2001. It is a rural initiative that targets small villages populated by less than 5000 individuals. It is a unique win-win initiative that catalyses rural affluence even as it benefits business. Currently, there are over 45,000 Shakti entrepreneurs covering over 100,000 villages across 15 states and reaching to over 3 million homes.
In 2002, HUL made its foray into Ayurvedic health & beauty centre category with the Ayush product range and Ayush Therapy Centres. Hindustan Unilever Network, Direct to home business was launched in 2003 and this was followed by the launch of ‘Pureit’ water purifier in 2004.
In 2007, the Company name was formally changed to Hindustan Unilever Limited after receiving the approval of share holders during the 74th AGM on 18 May 2007. Brooke Bond and Surf Excel breached the the Rs 1,000 crore sales mark the same year followed by Wheel which crossed the Rs.2,000 crore sales milestone in 2008.
In 2007, Hindustan Unilever was rated as the most respected company in India for the past 25 years by Businessworld, one of India’s leading business magazines.[2] The rating was based on a compilation of the magazines annual survey of India’s Most Reputed Companies over the past 25 years. HUL is the market leader in Indian consumer products with presence in over 20 consumer categories such as soaps, tea, detergents and shampoos amongst others with over 700 million Indian consumers using its products. It has over 35 brands. Sixteen of HUL’s brands featured in the ACNielsen Brand Equity list of 100 Most Trusted Brands Annual Survey (2008).[3] According to Brand Equity, HUL has the largest number of brands in the Most Trusted Brands List. It’s a company that has consistently had the largest number of brands in the Top 50 and in the Top 10 (with 4 brands).
Hindustan Unilever's distribution covers over 1 million retails outlets across India directly and its products are available in over 6.3 million outlets in India, i.e., nearly 80% of the retail outlets in India. It has 39 factories in the country. Two out of three Indians use the company’s products and HUL products have the largest consumer reach being available in over 80 per cent of consumer homes across India.[citation needed]
HUL was one of the eight Indian companies to be featured on the Forbes list of World’s Most Reputed companies in 2007
On 17th October 2008 , HUL completed 75 years of corporate existence in India.

Food brands
HUL is one of India’s leading food companies. Our passion for understanding what people want and need from their food - and what they love about it - makes our brands a popular choice

Home care brands
HUL has a diverse portfolio of brands offering home care solutions for millions of consumers across India.

Personal care brands
Personal care brands, including Axe, Dove, Lux, Pond's, Rexona and Sunsilk, are recognised and love by consumers across India.