Biotique

Within a short span of the last five-six years, the use of cosmetics by Indian consumers has increased significantly with more and more women and men taking greater interest in personal grooming.

Biotique a name synonymous with premium ayurvedic cosmetic segment. It was 1992 when Vinita Jain started her dream project Biotique mostly to export, has set up an R&D centre in Switzerland to get a blend of Swiss biotechnology and ayurveda and today she is credited with making Ayurvedic beauty products fashionable. Biotique today boasts of Rs 600cr turnover . In India, Biotique is undertaking a rebranding and repositioning exercise that, Jain hopes, will help her brand reach the Rs 1,000 crore revenue mark in the next 18 months

The ayurvedic segment accounts for about Rs 4,100 crore, or 18%, of the country’s Rs 22,000-crore cosmetics market, according to KPMG Advisory Services. Other key players in the segment include Forest Essentials, Shahnaz Husain Himalaya, Blossom Kochhar, VLCC, Dabur and Lotus.

EVERY two months, Vinita Jain takes off to Switzerland for about 10 days or so to oversee her team of doctors, biotechnologists and scientists. The team, based in Switzerland, comprises Biotique's exclusively-owned research and development headquarters.

The results show. Demi Moore, Kate Moss, Prince Charles and the royal families of Dubai and Saudi Arabia are just some celebrity names that figure in Biotique's regular consumer base.

That the trademark green and white jars now draw immediate brand recall from consumers across various cross-sections and income groups is an indication of success that has come in quick time.

Exports now account for about 65 per cent of Bio Veda . Within the herbal category, Biotique competes with the Shahnaz Husain range, besides smaller names such as Lotus Herbals and Ayur.

Driving factors for such growth is increasing purchasing power in urban cities. The advent of satellite television and awareness of the western beauty and fashion world, advertisements and promotions, increasing number of women joining the work force is changing preferences, customs and cultures in India.

All this has led to a constant up-gradation from mass to premium products even though mass-market products still constitute the major portion of the India cosmetics and toiletries market.