Patanjali might be seeing a dry run in the future, thanks to aggressobe rivals

Patanjali, the FMCG brand owned by yoga guru Baba Ramdev has had a dream run in its segment for around a decade, gaining massive popularity and revenue in the recent years. However, it looks like the fad is about to come to an end.



Even though the company aims to double its revenue to Rs 21,000 crore this financial year, rival FMCG players are going out of their way to recapture their market shares across segments.

While Hindustan Unilever Limited has started to focus on its Ayush brand of naturals/herbals products, Colgate-Palmolive has also brought out its range of natural products so that it can reclaim its market in the toothpaste segment. Dabur too has declared that Patanjali dominance is over in the honey segment.

"Primary shipments of Ayush have started," said Sanjiv Mehta, CEO and Managing Director at India's largest consumer goods maker. "In two to three weeks, you will start seeing much more activity happening in the marketplace. It's a multi-category launch. We're very pleased with the results in South India and now we're very excited in rolling it out nationally," he said at the June quarter earnings call.

Talking of the skincare space, HUL is bringing Citra to India, which offers skin care products with far-Eastern ingredients like Japanese Green tea, Sakura and Thai Lotus.

As per analysts, Citra will cement HUL's dominance in the skincare sentiment, helping it ward off the competition it has from herbal players like Patanjali, Dabur and Himalaya.

Patanjali has reported Rs 10,561 crore revenue for FY17, out of which Patanjali Ayurved contributed Rs 9,346 crore and Divya Pharmacy contributed Rs 870 crore.

Dabur, another FMCG major from India is said to be already working on a strategy to take on rival Patanjali, which includes modernising its Ayurveda portfolio and introducing a range of new products.