Henkel Consumer Brands taps at-home hair colouring market

The company is set to launch more international brands in the country, said a top executive at Henkel.

“The growth trajectory of Schwarzkopf Professional India has been phenomenal. Since our entry in the Indian market in 2001, we have stayed true to our brand We are excited to bring Schwarzkopf’s expertise into the at-home hair color space and elevate the DIY experience. The at-home hair colour market has seen extensive growth over the last two years, especially during the pandemic and we intend to leverage this opportunity with the launch of two iconic hair colour ranges—Colour Specialist and Simply Color,” Kartik Kaushik, Country Head – Henkel Consumer Brands, India and South Asia Export Markets said.

Kaushik said the company, which largely retails its portfolio of hair colours via salons and professional channels, will further build an extensive distribution with plans to gain 20% of the market share in the premium hair colouring segment by 2025. With the new launch, the company will expand its presence in non-salon channels, including modern trade and online sales channels.

India’s hair colourant market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.5% until 2026 led by increasing urbanization and evolving lifestyles. Henkel competes with French beauty company Loreal in the market. Meanwhile, the pandemic has also moved some of the usage of hair care products in-home.

To be sure, in 2011, Jyothy Laboratories acquired a majority stake in Henkel AG and Co. This gave Jyothy access to brands such as Henko, Margo soap and Pril dishwash. Meanwhile, Henkel chose to focus on its hair colourant business in the country largely under the Schwarzkopf brand. The company also has a large adhesive business in India.

Kaushik said the company could bring more global brands to India.

“So currently we are focusing on beauty and there are a lot of innovations which are in our beauty portfolio or the consumer goods portfolio, which we intend to launch in India in the next two to three years,” Kaushik said.

Kaushik said the India beauty market has “highly evolved” compared to what it a decade ago.

“We thought that this is the right time for the Schwarzkopf brand to make some sort of a comeback, now that there is a larger consumer market. And the traction we were getting in our professional business really kind of inspired us that there is a large market that we need to tap,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kaushik added India is driving growth for the company’s hair-care business in the Asia Pacific Asia Pacific region.

The move comes after the global consolidation of the company’s consumer business, led by the merger Henkel’s beauty care, laundry and home divisions.