Pidilite to build new products the size of Fevicol, Fevikwik, Dr Fixit

Pidilite Industries, the leading adhesives manufacturing company, plans to scale up the business with new segments that focus on growth. It will continue building the core category--- which includes Fevicol, Fevikwik, Dr Fixit and M-Seal--- through innovation, premiumisation and geographic expansion.

Bharat Puri, Managing Director, Pidilite told BusinessToday.In that the share from growth and pioneer categories will increase to 50 per cent of the company's overall revenue in the next five years. "Five years back, the 75 per cent revenue came from core categories. At present, the core revenue share stands at 67 per cent because of the increasing revenue share from growth and pioneering categories," said Puri. The products in its core category have 60-70 per cent market share.

"Take something like waterproofing. Only three out of 10 homes in the country are built with proper waterproofing. So our job as the leading waterproofing company is to increase the three houses to six rather than worry about share within three. We have to educate the consumers about the uses of waterproofing, how to go about it and then make sure that they use it," he says.

Tile and stone fixing adhesive called Roff falls in the pioneer category. According to Puri, the products in the pioneer category will graduate to growth category later. "In the developed world, sand, cement and adhesive are used for fixing tiles. In India, nine out of 10 houses still use only sand and cement. Here also Pidilite wants to create the category by educating consumers and influencers," Puri says.

According to Puri, the strategy is to grow core categories at 1 to 1.5 times of GDP; growth and pioneer categories at 2 to 5 times of GDP. "As long as it fits our corporate strategy, we are open to acquisitions. We are conservative on our spending and don't believe in spending 40 times and 50 times the earnings. As a cash-rich company, we are always looking at good opportunities," he adds.

Pidilite is building 11 new factories across India at present, while scouting for opportunities overseas. "We want to be a multinational of emerging markets and neighbouring countries. We now have two factories in Bangladesh. It emerged as the market leader in the last 10 years. Fevicol has a similar kind of presence that it has in India. Now we have launched Dr. Fixit. In fact, our brand ambassador for Dr. Fixit is their cricket captain," says Puri.

Also Read: How COVID-19 pushed Nestle India to decentralise its operations

Also Read: How Unilever keeps human at the heart of organisation