Nature’s Essence, one of the leaders in herbal products manufacturing, is planning a Rs 100 crore IPO for expansion.
“We are expecting to touch Rs 100 crore turnover within 16 months, and that is when we plan to come up with an IPO to raise additional Rs 100 crore for expansion. On the cards are 100 exclusive stores that will provide salon and training services under Nature’s Essence brand name. We are coming up with a 15,000 square feet manufacturing facility in Kotdwar in Uttaranchal, while we also have a proposal from the UP government to put up a facility in Jhansi, for which the formalities will be completed within 12 months,” Saurabh Nanda, executive director, Nature’s Essence, told Indiaretailing.
Commenting on the Indian cosmetics market scene, Nanda said, “It’s time for the Indian David to rise and beat the foreign entrants. There’s a lot of potential in herbal cosmetics and we can give a tough competition to the foreign brands that may be dominating this segment. With these expansion plans in line, we are targeting Rs 500 crore turnover in a couple of years.”
Nature’s Essence products are available through renowned retail outlets like Big Bazaar, Reliance Retail, Apollo chain of pharmacies, Guardian Life Care pharmacies, Ebony, and Big Apple. The company is also planning to supply products as private labels to retail chains like Subhiksha, Vishal Mega Mart, and Marks & Spencer.
Internationally, the company’s products are available in South Africa, Mauritius, Reunion, Belarus, Trinidad & Tobago, Surinam, Guyana and French Guyana. As private labels for retail chains, these products are available in Australia and the United States.
Established in 1998, the company’s core business is personal care products – it has almost 200 products in professional segment (for saloons, etc.) and 20 products for direct retail. These products are made by an expert panel of in-house chemists and are tested by government-recognised testing labs. The company has its own 6,000-square-yard manufacturing facility in Haridwar.
– Ranjan Kaplish
