Mumbai: Japanese personal care group Unicharm has replaced Procter & Gamble as India's biggest diaper company by sales after its revenues expanded 28% during FY23.
Unicharm’s MamyPoko diaper brand has been challenging the dominance of P&G’S Pampers in several global markets including India.
Revenues of the Indian unit of Unicharm Corporation rose to Rs 3,612 crore in FY23, with the diaper segment accounting for 84%, or Rs 3,022 crore, according to its filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC). In comparison, P&G’s diaper business clocked Rs 2,422 crore, or about 29% of its total business. To be sure, Unicharm's revenue also includes income from export and other non-revenue incomes and sales deduct treatment is not comparable due to different ways of accounting. Excluding these exceptional income, Unicharm's diaper segment is still bigger but the gap is lower.
Unicharm attributed the growth to a host of factors including design innovation and distribution expansion. Unicharm was the first to launch underwear-shaped diapers in the country and it is launching a new innovation with sheets enriched with coconut extracts in its product to make them more skin-friendly.
“MamyPoko pants’ effort to meet consumer needs in terms of absorption and skin friendly products, along with increased distribution penetration each year at urban, metro towns and rural, has helped the company to grow in the last few years,” said Vijay Chaudhary, managing director of Unicharm India.
He said the growth will speed up after its new launch built with advance technology. Nearly a decade ago, Unicharm’s diaper business was roughly half of that of P&G, but it has since grown over 35% annually. Source Link
