According to a recent research report from Transparency Market Research, the growth for adult and baby diaper in emerging markets viz. APAC, Middle East and Latin America is expected to grow at a burgeoning rate than the developed markets viz. North America, Europe. In APAC region, India is poised to be one of the leading markets for adult and baby diaper owing to the increasing birth rates and growth in adult population. With the untapped market in its basket, India offers a huge area of opportunity for the manufacturers of diapers to grow rapidly. As a result in the recent past, India has seen influx of various renowned international players setting up the manufacturing base and many branded domestic manufacturers mushrooming across India.
We recently caught up with Mr. Rahul Page, Managing Director of Walmark Meditech Pvt. Ltd., engaged in manufacturing, sales & exports of complete range of personal hygiene care products under the brand name of WETEX. Below is a transcript of the conversation with Mr. Rahul Page (RP)
What is your view on the growth outlook for personal hygiene care market, particularly in baby and adult diaper market in India?
The personal hygiene care industry has shown attractive growth in the recent past and I believe it will continue to grow at a CAGR of 20%+ for next 3-5 years. Talking about, Indian diaper industry, it is at a nascent stage with meagre penetration rate of <1% and ~3% for adult and baby diaper respectively. I believe the diaper industry is poised for explosive growth in the coming years led by various favorable growth drivers and validated by huge investments made by international brands.
What are the key growth drivers for your industry?
The Indian diaper industry is a derivative of the changing Indian demographics. This will be driven by the several growth drivers including growth in birth rate & adult population, increasing working women, increased awareness, increased penetration in rural & urban market, reduction in prices and entrance of multinational brands.
Whom do you compete with in the adult and baby diaper segment?
Indian baby diaper market is highly consolidated with 80-85% market being controlled by top 3-4 players. The industry is also dominated by imports & local repackaging of diapers by various players.
In adult diaper market apart from WETEX, couple of other players who have their own manufacturing base. We are the 2nd largest domestic manufacturer for adult diaper in India. Baby diaper market is dominated by multinationals.
What has been the role of government to support Indian diaper industry?
In order to promote domestic production and decrease dependence on imports, the government has rolled out various incentive schemes for domestic manufacturers. The central government has imposed import duty on diapers to curb imports. The diaper manufacturing sector enjoys various central & state government subsidies viz. capital, interest and sales tax.
What are your growth plans for WETEX in next 2-3 years?
Our short term vision is to be a 200+ crore company over 3 years. WETEX plans to invest & expand manufacturing base and diversify into new product segment viz. pull-up pants for baby and adult diaper and sanitary pads.
Tell us about WETEX growth story?
Established in November 2011, followed by manufacturing of adult diapers in November 2012, WETEX is a leading manufacturer, exporter, wholesaler and supplier of diversified personal hygiene care products. This including adult diapers, baby diapers, sanitary pads, maternity pads, wet wipes and hand sanitizer. We have witnessed a revenue growth of 30% CAGR since inception. WETEX has a modern ISO certified manufacturing facility at Butibori-Nagpur (Maharashtra) spread over 1,00,000 SF area. The Company has developed strong pan India sales distribution network of over 2,000 dealers and 70,000+ retailers.
The company is exclusive supplier of baby and adult diapers to hospitals chains and Multinational brands. WETEX regularly exports to various countries thus making WETEX a brand to reckon with in Hygiene Industry.
