Nobel Hygiene Pvt Ltd., among the first players in adult diapers in India and the market leader in this segment (with 65% market share according to Euromonitor Singapore) is planning to expand its capacity by setting up a new manufacturing facility in North India to cater to the growing demand for adult and baby diapers in the country, a top company official said.
“We have seen the demand for adult diapers growing from zero in 2000 to approximately 10 crore pieces in 2016,” said Kamal Kumar Johari, managing director, Nobel Hygiene. “Besides, the baby diapers market is growing at 25-30% a year. So, we are planning to set up a new factory in North India, either in NCR Delhi or in Uttar Pradesh this year,” he said.
He said the company would invest ₹25 crore in the new manufacturing unit. Nobel Hygiene already operates a factory in Nashik in Maharashtra where it has put up six manufacturing lines with fully-automated machines. The unit manufactures adult and baby diapers, underpads and baby diaper pants.
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Mr. Johari said that the company was also planning to set up a manufacturing base outside India. However, he did not disclose the location. “We may start very soon,” Mr. Johari said.
Globally, the disposable hygiene market is estimated at $50 billion and this includes diapers and sanitary napkins according to industry officials. In India, this market is estimated at ₹6,000 crore.
The Indian market is dominated by three MNCs: Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark and Unicharm of Japan, that manufacture and sell their brands Pampers, Huggies and MamyPoko respectively. Nobel Hygiene has two brands: Friends for adult diapers and Teddyy for baby diapers.
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Mr. Johari said his company had been growing at 30-40% for the last seven years as compared with the average industry growth of 20-25%. “We are the only company in India which manufactures all types of diapers and underpads. Besides, we have designed diapers as per the Indian body structure and thus our diapers do not leak,” he said.
The adult diapers market is estimated at ₹350 crore at MRP level while the baby segment is worth more than ₹5,500 crore.
“The penetration level of diapers in India is 6% as against 35% in China. This leaves vast scope for growth,” Mr. Johari said.
He said the company is targeting to manufacture 20 lakh pieces of diapers per day by 2019 as compared to 10 to 12 lakh pieces currently. The company exports to Middle East, Africa, Central Europe and USA.
Private equity investors CLSA and Access Investment have invested in the company.
The adult diapers market is growing by 18 to 25% in the cities while in the rural areas the growth in the range of 2 to 10%.
The awareness on adult diapers is growing and families are now willing to spend ₹6000 on diapers per month due to enhanced comforts they provide to the elderly and the sick. The diapers have given the elderly the freedom to move around and the respect they deserve at a stage when they lose all control to promptly respond to nature’s call.