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CHAPTER IV

PROFILE OF SOAP INDUSTRY

4.1 Introduction
4.2 History of Soap
4.3 Soap Making Process
4.4 Ingredient and process of Making bathing Soap
4.5 Brief Information of Leading Companies and
their products
4.6 Marketing of Bathing Soaps
4.7 Size of the Industry
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

CHAPTER IV
PROFILE OF SOAP INDUSTRY

4.1 Introduction
Soaps are categorized into men’s soaps, ladies soaps and common soaps. There are few
specialty soaps like the Glycerin soaps, sandal soaps, specially flavored soaps and medicated
soaps. Especially soaps are high valued which enjoy only a small share of the market in value
terms. The market is growing at 7 % a year. This means that the incremental demand
generation is 5% over and above the population growth. With increasing awareness of
hygienic standards, the market for the soaps grows at a rate higher than 8% annually.
Interestingly, 60% of the market is now sourced from the rural sector. This means that the
variance between the two segments is not very large. Since upper-end market focus is the
urban areas, margins come from the urban sector.
Soap is a product for many people and the lathering up can be a treasured part of a morning
or nightly routine. Whether it might be scanted or unscented, in bars, gels, and liquids, soap is
a part of our daily lives. In the United States, soap is a $1,390 million (US$) industry with
over 50 mass market brands, but in Indian markets the sales potential for soap is only
beginning to be analyzed. At the end of the year 2000, soap was a $1,032 million (US$)
business in India.

4.2 History of soap


a) Early History
The earliest recorded evidence of the production of Soap-like materials dates back to around
2800 BC in Ancient Babylon. In the reign of Nabonidus (556-539 BCE) a recipe for soap
consisted of uhulu (ashes), cypress (oil) and sesame (seed oil) for washing the stones for the
servant girls. A formula for soap consisting of water, alkali, and cassia oil was written on a
Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 BC. The Ebers papyrus, 1550 BC) includes that ancient
Egyptians bathed regularly and combined animal and vegetable oil with alkaline salts to
create a soap-like substance. Egyptian documents mention that a soap-like substance was
used in the preparation of wool for weaving.

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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

b) Roman History
The word Latin for soap, first appears in Pliny the Elder’s Historia Naturails, which discusses
the manufacture of soap from tallow and ashes, but the only use he mentions for it is as a
pomade for hair; he mentions rather disapprovingly that the men of Gauls and Germans were
more likely to use it than their female counterparts. Aretaeus of Cappadocia, writing in the
first century AD, observes among “Celts, which are called Gauls, those alkaline substances
that are into balls, called Soap.
A popular belief encountered in some places claims that soap takes its name from a supposed
Mount Sapo, where animal sacrifices were supposed to take place-tallow from these
sacrifices would then have mixed with ashes from fires associated with these sacrifices and
with water to produce soap. But there is no evidence of a Mount sapo within the Roman
world and no evidence for the apocryphal story. The Latin word Sapo simply means “soap”;
it was likely borrowed from an early Germanic language and is cognate with Latin sebum,
“tallow”, which appears in Pliny the Elder’s account. Roman animal sacrifices usually burned
only the bones and inedible entrails of the sacrificed animals; edible meat, and fat from the
sacrifices were taken by the humans rather than the gods.
Zosimos of Panopolis, ca. 300 AD, describes soap and soap making. Galen describes Soap­
making using lye and prescribes washings to carry away impurities from the body and
clothes. According to Galen, the best soaps were Germanic, and soaps from Gaul were
second best This is a reference to true soap in antiquity.

c) Islamic History

A 12th century Islamic documents has the world’s first extant description of the process of
soap production. It mentions the key ingredient, alkali, which later becomes crucial to
modem chemistry, derived from al-qaly or “ashes”. By the thirteenth century the manufacture
of soap in the Islamic world had become virtually industrialized, with sources in Fes,
Damascus, and Aleppo.

d) Medieval History
Soap-makers in Naples were members of a guild in the late sixth century, and in the 8th
century, soap-making was well known in Italy and Spain. The Carolingian capitulary De
Villis, dating to around 800, representing the royal will of Charlemagne, mentions soap as
being one of the products the stewards of royal estates are to tally. Soap-making is mentioned
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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

both as “women’s work and as the produce of goo workmen” alongside other necessities such
as the produce of carpenters, blacksmiths, and bakers.

e) 15th -20th Centuries


In France, by the second half of the 15th century, the semi-industrialized professional
manufacture of soap was concentrated in a few centers of Provence - Toulon, Hyeres, and
Marseille - which supplied the rest of France. In Marseilles, by 1525, production was
concentrated in at least two factories and soap production at Marseille tended to eclipse the
other provencal centers. English manufacture tended to concentrate in London.

Finer soaps were later produced in Europe from the 16th century, using vegetables oils (such
as olive oil) as opposed to animal fats. Many of these soaps are still produced, both
industrially and by small-scale artisans. Castile soap is a popular example of the vegetable-
only soaps derived by the oldest “white soap” of Italy.

In modem times, the use of soap has become universal in industrialized nations due to a
*
better understanding of the role of hygiene in reducing the population size of pathogenic
microorganisms. Industrially manufacture bar soaps first became available in the late
eighteenth century, as advertising campaigns in Europe and the United States promoted
popular awareness of the relationship between cleanliness and health.

Until the industrial revolution, soap making was conducted on a small scale and the product
was rough. Andrew Pears started making a high-quality, transparent soap in 1789 in London.
His son-in-low, Thomas J. Barratt, opened a factory in Isleworth in 1862. William Gossage
produced low-price good-quality soap from the 1850s. Robert spear Hudson began
manufacturing a soap powder in 1837, initially by grinding the soap with a mortar and pestle.
American manufacture Benjamin T. Babbitt introduced marketing innovations that included
sale of bar soap and distribution of product samples. William Hesketh Lever and his brother,
james, bought a small soap works in Warrington in 1886 and founded what is still one of the
largest soap business, formerly called Lever Brothers and now called Unilever. These soap
businesses were among the first to employ large-scale advertising campaigns.

f) History of Soap in India


During the British rule the Lever Brothers, England introduced modem soaps by importing
and marketing them in country. The first company created was North West Soap Company,

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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

the Soap manufacturing plant in India situated in the city of Meerut, in the state of Uttar
Pradesh. In 1897, they started marketing cold process soaps. In 1918, Mr. Jamshedji Tata set
up India’s first indigenous soap manufacturing unit when he purchased the coconut oil mills
at Cochin Kerala. Ok mills crushed and marketed coconut oil for cooking and manufactured
crude cold process laundry soaps that were sold locally and it was renamed the Tata Oil Mills
Company and its first branded soaps appeared on the market in the early 1930’s. Soap
became a necessity for the moneyed class by around 1937.

4.3 Soap Making Process

The industrial production of soap involves continuous processes, involving continuous


addition of fat and removal of product. Smaller-scale production involves the traditional
batch processes. There are three variations; the cold-process, wherein the reaction takes place
substantially at room temperature, the semi-boiled or hot-process, wherein the reaction takes
place at near-boiling point, and the fully boiled process, wherein the reactants are boiled at
least once and the glycerol recovered. The cold-process and hot-process (semi-boiled) are the
simplest and typically used by small artisans and hobbyists producing handmade decorative
soaps and similar.

a) Cold Process

Even in the cold-soap making process, some heat is usually required; the temperature is
usually raised to a point sufficient to ensure complete melting of the fat being used. The batch
may also be kept warm for some time after mixing to ensure that the alkali (hydroxide) is
completely used up. This soap is safe to use after approximately 12-48 hours but is not at its
peak quality for use for several weeks.

Cold-process soap making requires exact measurements of lye and fat amounts and
computing their ratio, using saponification charts to ensure that the finished product does not
contain any excess hydroxide or too much free unreacted fat. Saponification charts should
also be used in hot-processes, but are not necessary for the “fully boiled hot-process”
Soaping.

A cold-process soap maker first looks up the saponification value of the fats being used on a
saponification chart. This value is used to calculate the appropriate amount of lye. Excess
unreacted lye in the soap will result in a very high PH and can bum or irritate skin; not
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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

enough lye and the soap is greasy. Most soap makers formulate their recipes within a 4-10%
deficit of lye so that all of the lye is converted and that excess fat is left for skin conditioning
benefits.

The lye is dissolved in water. Then oils are heated, or melted if they are solid at room
temperature. Once the oils are liquefied and the lye is fully dissolved in water, they are
combined. This lye-fat mixture is mixed until the two phases (oils and water) are fully
emulsified. Emulsification is most easily identified visually when the soap exhibits some
level of “trace”, which is the thickening of the mixture, (modern-day amateur soap makers
often use a stick blender to speed this process). There are varying levels of trace. Depending
on how additives will affect trace, they may be added at light trace, medium trace, or heavy
trace. After much stirring, the mixture turns to the consistency of a thin pudding. “Trace”
corresponds roughly to viscosity. Essential oils and fragrance oils can be added with the
initial soaping oils, but solid additives such as botanicals, herbs, oatmeal, or other additives
are most commonly added at light trace, just as the mixture starts to thicken.

The batch is then poured into moulds, kept warm with towels or blankets, and left to continue
saponification for 12 to 48 hours. Milk soaps or other with sugars added are the exception.
They typically do not require insulation, as the presence of sugar increases the speed of the
reaction and thus the production of heat. During this time, it is normal for the soap to go
through a “gel phase”, wherein the opaque soap will turn somewhat transparent for several
hours, before once again turning opaque.

After the insulation period, the soap is firm enough to be removed from the mould and cut
into bars. At this time, it is safe to use the soap, since saponification is in essence complete.
However, cold-process soaps are typically cured an hardened on a drying rack for 2-6 weeks
before use. During this cure period, trace amounts of residual lye is consumed by
saponification and excess water evaporates.

During the curing process, some molecules in the outer layer of the solid soap react with the
carbon dioxide of the air and produce a dusty sheet of sodium carbonate. This reaction is
more intense if the mass is exposed to wind or low temperatures.

BARR. BALASAHER KHABDEKAR LIBRARY


SHIVAJI ilNIVIRSIJY, KOLHAPUR.

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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

b) Hot Process

Hot processed soaps are created by encouraging the saponification reaction by adding heat to
the reaction. This speeds the reaction by the end of the handling period, whereas with cold
pour soap the bulk o the saponification happens after the oils and lye solution emulsification
is poured into moulds.

In the hot-process, the hydroxide and the fat are heated and mixed together 80-100 °C, little
below boiling point, until saponification is complete, which, before modem scientific
equipment, the soap maker determined by taste the sharp, distinctive eye can tell when gel
stage and full saponification has occurred. An advantage of the fully boiled hot process in
soap making is that the exact amount of hydroxide required need not be known with great
accuracy. They organized when the purity of the alkali hydroxides was unreliable, as these
processes can use even naturally found alkalis such as wood ashes and potash deposits. In the
fully boiled process, the mix is actually boiled (100c+), and, after saponificaton has occurred,
the “neat soap” is precipitated from the solution by adding common salt, and the excess liquid
drained off. This excess liquid carries away with it much of the impurities and color
compounds in the fat, to leave a purer, whiter soap, and with practically all the glycerin
removed. The hot, soft soap is then pumped into a mould. The spent hydroxide solution is
processed for recovery of glycerin.

c) Purification and Finishing

In the fully boiled process on factory scale, the soap is further purified to remove any excess
sodium hydroxide, glycerol, and other impurities, color compounds, etc. these components
are removed by boiling the crude soap curds in water and then precipitating the soap with
salt.

At this stage, the soap still contains too much water, which has to be removed. This was
traditionally done on chill rolls, which produced the soap flakes commonly used in the 1940s
and 1950s. this process was superseded by spray dryers and then by vacuum dryers.

The dry soap (approximately 6-12% moisture) is then compacted into small pellets or
noodles. These pellets/noodles are now ready for soap finishing, the process of converting
raw soap pellets into a saleable product, usually bars.

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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

Soap pellets are combined with fragrances and other materials and blended to homogeneity in
an amalgamator (mixer). The mass is then discharged from the mixer into a refiner, which by
means of an auger, forces the soap through a fine wire screen. From the refiner, the soap
passes or plastic or to making chocolate liquor. The soap is then passed through one or more
additional refiners to further plasticize the soap mass. Immediately before extrusion, the mass
is passed through a vacuum chamber to remove any trapped air. It is then extruded into a long
log or blank, cut to convenient lengths, passed through a metal detector, and then stamped
into shape in refrigerated tools. The pressed bars are packaged in many ways.

Sand or pumice may be added to produce a scouring soap. The scouring agents serve to
remove dead skin cells from the surface being cleaned. This process is called exfoliation.
Many newer materials that are effective but do not have the sharp edges and poor particle size
distribution of pumice are used for exfoliating soaps.

Nanoscopic metals are commonly added to certain soaps specifically for both coloration and
anti-bacterial properties titanium powder is commonly used in extreme “white” soaps for
these purpose; nickel, aluminum, and silver are less commonly used. These metals exhibit an
electron-robbing behavior when in contact with bacteria, stripping electrons from the
organism’s surface, thereby disrupting their functioning and killing them. Because some of
the metal is left behind on the skin and in the pores, the benefit can also extend beyond the
actual time of washing helping reduce bacterial contamination and reducing potential odors
from bacterial on the skin surface.

d) Ingredients and Process of making bath Soap


a) Materials/Ingredients (for 14 bars, 135g/bar)
1. Refined coconut oil - 4.5 kg
2. Caustic soda solution (32 deg.) - 3.25 kg
3. EDTA (Ethylene diaminetetracetate) - 70 g
4. Citric acid - 70 g
5. Sodium chloride - 4.5 g
6. CDEA (Coco diethanolamide) - 50 g
7. Light mineral oil - 70 g
8. Scent to suit
9. Color (Optional)

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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

b) Equipment/Tools
1. Pails - 161 cap. (2 pcs); 201 cap. (1 pc)
2. Basin (large)
3. Hydrometer-0-70 Baume
4. Weighing scales - 10 kg cap.; 500 g cap.
5. Mold and cutter
6. Wooden stirrer/manual or electric mixer
7. Spatula, stainless

c) Preparation of Materials
1) Caustic soda solution, 32 Be: dissolve 0.855 kg of caustic soda (NaOH) in 2.4 kg water.
Cool to room temperature. Check the concentration with the hydrometer. Adjust if
necessary and filter if needed before using.
2) Additives: Dissolve EDTA, citric acid and salt in 100 ml water. For color, make a 1%
solution. Add color in oil.

d) Preparation of the Soap


1. Weigh carefully the required quantity of coco oil. To make a colored soap, add about 10
ml of the 1% color in oil solution or the amount to suit the desired intensity of color.
2. Add the required amount of caustic soda which stirring until the condensed milk-like
consistently is attained. This usually takes 45 minutes to 1 hour.
3. Add the dissolved additives and continue stirring for 5 minutes more.
4. Add the light mineral oil, CDEA and scent, stir for another 5 minutes.
5. Pour the soap mixture into the moulder. Let it stand at room temperature for 12 hours or
until soap solidifies.
6. Remove soap from the moulder and cut into desired size.
7. Stamp and pack allow to age for about 7 days to complete the saponification.

4.5 Brief Information of Leading companies and their Products

4.5.1 Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL)

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India’s largest fast moving consumer goods company
with a heritage of over 75 years in India and touches the Lives of two out of three Indians.

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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

HUL works to create a better future every day and helps people feel good, look good and get
more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others.

With over 35 brands spanning 20 distinct categories such as soaps, detergent, shampoos, skin
care, toothpastes, deodorants, cosmetics, tea, coffee, packaged foods, ice cream, and water
purifiers, the company is a part of the everyday life and of millions of consumers across
India. Its portfolio includes leading household brands such as Lux, Lifebuoy, SurfExcel, Rin,
Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Pond’s, Vaseline, Lakme, Dove, Clinic Plus, Sunsilk, Pepsodent,
Closeup, Axe, Brooke Bond, Bru, Knorr, Kissan, Kwality Wall’s and pureit.

The company has over 16,000 employees and has an annual turnover of around Rs. 21, 736
crores (financial year 2011-2012). HUL is a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world’s
leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong local roots in more than 100
countries the globe with annual sales of about €46.5 billion in 2011. Unilever has about 52%
shareholding in HUL.

Product Information

1) Hamam
Hamam brings alive the wisdom behind time-less skincare rituals in convenient and
contemporary formats launched in 1931 as a ‘mild, family soap’, Hamam soon drew a large
natural following long before it was trendy or fashionable. Perhaps the only Indian-made
natural soap at the time, Hamam was embraced by mothers and doctors alike, its purity and
safety on the skin. Hamam can best leverage this due to heritage and natural ingredient
legitimacy to claim purification of the body and spirit. Product range includes Hamam
sampooma snaan, Hamam scrub bath, Hamam abhyanga snan

2) Dove

Dove launched in the US in 1957; is one of the leading brands of Unilever globally. Dove has
its footprint in 80 countries worldwide with a range of superior products from bar, lotions,
body washes, face care and creams. It is the leading bar brand in UK, US and Canada. Dove
is known to be a keeper of promises and has given real products to women world over. To
help enjoy your own brand of beauty. Dove provides a wide range of personal care, hair care,
skin care, and deodorants.

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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

3) Breeze
Breeze launched in 1988 as family beauty soap with the promise of fresh feeling of nature.
Breeze makes use of a new revolutionary global technology which enhances the impact of
world class perfumes in a much larger way, apart from bringing out the goodness of glycerin
New Breeze is filled with the goodness of glycerin which makes skin soft and smooth. Breeze
comes in five attractive variants Lemon Twist, Rose Mallika, Sandal Sparsh, Rajni Gandha
and Morning Muskaans.

4) Lifebuoy

Lifebuoy, an undisputed market leader for 112 years, has a compelling vision “to make 5
billion people across the world. Feel safe and secure by meeting their personal care hygiene
and health needs”. Lifebuoy has journeyed from humble beginning of being a chunky red bar
of soap to an evolved range of general and specialized products across formats, offering
solutions in the health and hygiene space. Lifebuoy has a strong social mission, promoted
through its rural hygiene programme, Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna, which propogates the
practice of hand washing with soap to reduce diarrheal deaths.

Lifebuoy has 18.4% market share in India with annual turnover of € 200 million. It has
consumer base of 140 million households in India. Product range includes lifebuoy core
soaps range, Lifebuoy handwsh range, Lifebuoy skin guard, Lifebuoy clear skin.

5) Lux

Lux is the world’s most iconic beauty bar and has a 90 year history of glamour and pleasure.
The most beautiful and iconic stars of the world have been Lux ambassadors over the years,
from Leela Chitnis to Madhuri Dixit, Aishwarya Rai and Katrina Kaif. Lux encourages
women to express their beauty by giving them a million dollar feeling everyday time they use
one of lux’s exquisite products. Lux has fine fragrances crafted by the world’s best perfumers
along with a host of exotic ingredients like Purple Lotus, sea minerals, strawberries, sandal
and many others.

Lux is the largest selling soap brand in the world. It is the No.l soap in India. Product range
includes Lux peach & cream, Lux strawberry & cream, Lux fresh splash, Lux purple lotus &
cream, Lux strawberry & cream, Lux magic spell, Lux peach and cream, Lux scarlet
blossom.
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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA

16580
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

6) Rexona
Rexona launched as early as 1947, Rexona is a natural skin care soap that gives you silky soft
skin. It is an indigenous brand created by HUL and has been an integral part of the Indian
market ever since. Rexona irrestibly silky soft skin and lingering aromatic fragrance
propostion has been an ally to the Indian women to keep those compliments flowing in from
their loved ones. Product range includes Rexona Green and Rexona white.

7) Pears
Pears was first made in 1789 by Andrew Pears in London. This is from where it derived its
name. The most famous pears ‘face’ is ‘Bubbles’, from an original painting by sir John
Everett Millais in 1866. The painting later became to be very first advertising on the brand.
Pears launched in India in 1902, pears exuberates a long heritage of Purity and pristine. With
the goodness of glycerin and natural oils, pears is trusted for being gentle and is
recommended by doctors and pediatricians worldwide. Pears is the world’s first registered
brand and it is in existence continuously since then.
Product range includes Pears pure and gentle, Pears germ shield, Pears oil clear, Pears pure
and gentle-3 in one pack, Pears pure & gentle hand wash, Pears oil clear hand wash, Pears
germs face wash, pears pure & gentle shower gel.

8) Lirft 2000
Liril is one of the oldest brands in India. This brand has managed to create breakthrough
advertising over the years. New Liril 2000 makes every part of skin alive with freshness. Its
combination of lime extracts and tea tree oil freshens and cleanses skin.

4.5.2 India Tobacco Company

ITC was incorporated on August 24, 1910 under the name of Imperial Tobacco Company of
India Limited. As the company’s ownership progressively Indianised , the name of the
company was changed from Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited to India Tobacco
Company Limited in 1970 and then to I.TC. Limited in 1974. In recognition of the
company’s multi-business portfolio encompassing a wide range of businesses - cigarettes and
tobacco, hotels, information technology, packaging, paperboards and specialty papers, agri­
business, foods, lifestyle retailing, education and stationary and personal care - the full stops

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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

in the company’s name were removed effective September 18, 2001. The company now
stands rechristened ITC Limited.

ITC introduced Essenza Di Wills, an exclusive range of fine fragrances and bath & body care
products for men and women in July 2005. Inizio, the signature range under Essenza Di Wills
provides a comprehensive grooming regimen with distinct lines for men (Inizio Homme) and
women (Inizio Femme). Continuing with its tradition of bringing world class products to
Indian consumers the company launched ‘Fiama Di Wills’, a premium range of shampoos,
shower gels, and soaps in September, October and December 2007 respectively. The
company also launched the ‘Superia’ range of soaps and shampoos in the mass-market
segment at select markets in October 2007 and vivel De Wills & Vivel range of soaps in
February and Vivel range in June 2008.

ITC’s personal care portfolio under the ‘Essenza Di Wills’, ‘Fiama Di Wills’, ‘Vivel
UltraPro’, ‘Vivel’ and ‘Superia’ brands has received encouraging consumer response and is
being progressively extended nationally.

4.5.3 WiproLtd

Wipro is today the top business conglomerates in the world. With a $ 5 billion turnover, it has
diverse interests ranging from information technology to infrastructure engineering and
consumer care. Wipro has a presence across 50 countries and employees strength of over
94000 employees worldwide from over 50 nationalities.

Wipro consumer care and lighting is today among the top 10 FMCG companies and amongst
the fastest growing fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in India. It has a
presence in over 40 countries with 6500 employees worldwide. Wipro has eight production
plants in India and five overseas.

Wipro’s organic growth has been led by growth in toilet soaps, domestic and institutional
lighting and office furniture. Wipro has also gained from new launches Wipro safe wash,
Santoor handwash, Santoor Face wash, Wipro Sanjeevani honey, Wipro Sweet N Healthy.

Amongst the acquired brands, Glucovita and Chandrika have shown excellent growth with
new variants, brands extensions and brand enhancements. Acquisition in the institutional
business segment includes North West Switches.

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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

All the brands are well known in their respective categories. Santoor Soap is the 3ld largest
soap brand in India. The equity of Santoor has been well extended to Talc, Hand wash and
face wash. Chandrika is the world’s first ayurvedic soap with the heritage of over 60 years.
The wellness segment includes brands like Sanjeevani Honey, Glucovita and Wipro Sweet N
healthy. Wipro baby soft is the second largest player in baby care products and is the only
company having all products for baby care starting from nipples and bottles to diapers.

4.5.4 Godrej Consumer products Ltd.

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) is a leader among India’s fast moving consumer
goods companies, with leading household and personal care products. Product range includes
Good Knight, Cinthol, Godrej No. 1, Expert Hit, Jet, Fairglow, Ezee, Protekt and Snuggy,
among others, are household names across the country. GCPL is one of the largest marketers
of toilet soaps in the country and are also leaders in hair colors and household insecticides.
Product range includes:

a) Cinthol: It is specially formulated for 24 hours confidence, to enable an active lifestyle.


b) Godrej No. 1: It includes moisturizing soap, Lime and aloe Vera soap and strawberry.
c) Godrej Vigil: Godrej Vigil is the only Grade 1 health soap in India.
d) Godrej Protekt: It is instant hand sanitizer; with insta sanitize technology, kills 99.99%.
e) Godrej Fairglow: It contains a unique fairness formula which helps to become fairer.

4.6 Marketing of Bathing Soaps


Soap is primarily targeted towards women, as they are the chief decision makers in terms of
soap purchase. Medicated positioning like germs killing and anti-bacterial are marketed to
families. About 75% of soap can be bought through these different types of outlets;

a) Kirana Store
This is the most common source for buying soap, which usually forms a part of the month’s
grocery list (which is purchased from these Kirana Stores). Consumers exhibit loyalty to
these stores, which is largely dependent on proximity to consumer’s homes. Here consumers
buy across the counter and do not have option of browsing through display shelves.

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D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA
SHIVAJI UNIVERSITY, KOLHAPUR M.Phil

b) Pan-Beedi Shops

These are really small shops, almost like handcarts, and they are primarily set up to dispense
cigarettes and chewing tobacco. However, one would find such a shop at every comer and
they are the main source of soap purchase for the lower socio-economic classes. These kinds
of shops exist by the dozen in rural areas.

c) Department Store

In India, there are very few department stores and the “indianised” version of department
stores is called “Sahakari Bhandars”. It is still a fairly new concept. However, department
stores have good display counters and this is the only place where consumers get a firsthand
experience of shopping and choosing from available options, here soap prices are also
discounted below the retail prices.

4.7 Size of the industry V

The Indian soap industry includes about 700 companies with combined annual revenue of
about $17 billion. Major companies in this industry include divisions of P&G, Unilever, and
Dial. The Indian Soap industry is highly concentrated with the top 50 companies holding
almost 90% of the market. The market size of global soap and detergent market size was
estimated to be around 31 M tones in 2004. This is estimated to grow to 33M tones in the
coming years. Toilet soaps account for more than 10% of the total market of soap and
detergent. In Asia, the countries like China and India are showing rapid growth in the toilet
soap section. Market share of body wash was estimated to be around 2% in 2004 and is
showing signs of healthy growth in these markets. India’s soap market is Rs, 41.75 billion.

Indian soap industry volume is Rs. 4,800-erore. For the purpose of gaining a competitive
edge, Indian companies are now relaunching their brands with value-additions to woo
consumers across India. For instance, Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) has recently launched a
host of toilet soap brands which include lifebuoy, Lux, breeze and Liril-with value additions.
Also is in the process of rolling out ‘ Ayush’ ayurvedic soap. The aim is to meet the evolving
needs of customers. Next chapter depicts the analysis and its interpretation of collected data.

45
D.G. COLLEGE OF COMMERCE, SATARA

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