Dabur, Patanjali, and now Dove: Brands eyeing baby care

A few days ago, FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever launched a new range of baby care products under its leading personal care brand Dove. The move comes soon after Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna’s Patanjali Ayurveda introduced its ‘Shishu’ care brand. Earlier this year, India’s grand old natural healthcare brand Dabur, too, forayed into this segment with Dabur Baby.

While the biggies enter the Rs 4,000 crore market, many startups like FirstCry, BabyChakra and BabyOye, too, have seen growth and optimism from investors. So what is it about the baby care market that it’s seeing such footfall?

The numbers say it all

The Indian baby care market is poised to grow at 13.66 per cent CAGR over the next few years, according to Research and Markets. As Euromonitor puts it, the Indian baby care sector is a Rs 4,000 crore market.

The spending per child in India is also expected to increase from Rs 6917 to Rs 14079 by 2020. Add to that, the number of babies in the age group of 0-5 years is set to increase from 127 million to 135 million by 2020. All these numbers put together point towards a billion dollar opportunity that lies in this market for the big daddies and startups alike.

Can they eat into the big daddy’s pie?

Even though the penetration of national and international players in the baby care segment rises, Johnsons & Johnsons continues to be the market leader. The brand accounts for 74 per cent of the baby care market, thus, becoming a tough one to beat.

However, the new entrants are ready for the challenge, eyeing the opportunity that lies in this segment. Baba Ramdev has indeed said that his baby care brand will eat into the share of J&J and will stop its growth.

HUL’s brand Dove also aims to be among the leaders in this segment with Baby Dove. “We are excited to bring Baby Dove to India after a highly successful launch in Brazil. Our aim is to go beyond mildness and ensure that the lost moisture is replenished. Thereby providing superior care, we strongly feel that the Baby Dove campaign resonates with moms globally, and we have set out to reassure moms that they know what’s best for their child,” says Prabha Narasimhan, Vice President Skincare, HUL.

Ramarao Dhamija, Dabur India Ltd Category Head – Mother and Child Care, says, “with Dabur Baby range, we will continue to provide the highest quality in natural personal baby care, using formulations that are tender enough for a baby’s skin.”

Meanwhile, the leader, J&J, is ready to take on the prospective competition. It has added more products to its kitty, like baby milk soap, diaper rash solution and baby wash. Bedtime baby care is another category that J&J has launched products in.

The future

The modern day parents are getting more affluent as well as aware. They tend to go online and conduct in depth research on the kind of products available in baby care. This online penetration has paved way for the growth of startups like FirstCry and BabyOye, attracting investments from the likes of Ratan Tata’s IDG Ventures, Tiger Global Management and more. As parents become more willing to spend on baby care products, the segment is set to see huge growth in the next few years, posing a huge opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs in baby care.