Natural Segment in Personal Care Estimated to be Rs 18,500-cr Market

With consumers increasingly preferring ayurvedic and natural products, the natural segment accounts for 41 percent of the total Rs 44,790 crore personal care market, according to market research firm Nielsen.

"The pie of natural is increasing over the last few years. Roughly, every given year naturals is eating up a percent point from the non-naturals in the personal segment. It has become 41 percent of the total personal care segment in 2016 from 37 percent four years ago," Nielsen South Asia Executive Director Sameer Shukla told reporters here.

The natural segment in India's personal care market is growing at 6.6 per cent and is estimated to be Rs 18,500 crore in 2016, stated the Nielsen report - 'But Naturally! Going Back to Natural in India's Personal Care Segment'.

The natural segment of personal care is growing at almost 1.7 times that of overall personal care and the value growth of the natural segment is racing ahead at almost 2.2 times that of non-naturals, it added.

The report noted that hair oil is a leading category in the natural personal care space, constituting 34 percent of the market, followed by toilet soaps (30 percent), face care (13 percent), toothpaste (11 percent), shampoo (7 percent) and hand and body (6 percent).

Among these categories, natural segment has been growing in category toothpaste at 20.1 percent, followed by hand and body (17.5 percent) and shampoo with 13.2 percent growth.

According to the report, South, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab are the primary markets for natural segment in India.

Urban areas are fuelling the rise in the segment with a growth of 6.7 percent in 2016 as compared to 1.4 percent in non-natural, it said.

Among the retail channels, chemists and modern trade are boosting growth for natural segment, it observed.

Chemists as a channel registered 19.4 percent growth in 2016 for the natural segment against 9.8 percent growth for non-naturals.

In case of modern trade, it was 19.4 percent for naturals against 2.3 percent growth for non-naturals.

On the pricing front, it noted that natural variants in personal care are priced almost 17 percent lower than average non-naturals.

Indian origin companies contribute 79 percent to the natural segment in the personal care category, while the multi-nationals account for 21 percent.