‘Marico’ - a Corporate Miracle -
CORPORATE PROFILE
In the current Indian business history, Marico is almost a miracle. Transforming traditional products like vegetable oils into well accepted branded products and developing the urban and rural markets almost simultaneously has been the success story of Marico. For Indians, who are used to corporate growth cases of multinational companies, an Indian corporate entity like Marico is a welcome revelation. It is something like the story of ‘Amul’.
Vegetable oils like coconut oil and safflower oil traditionally used in different parts of the country due to their proximity to farm growth centres, are products where traditional management has been very successful. Coconut oil has been essentially an oil used for consumption mainly in Kerala and neighbouring areas in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Keralites living in foreign countries specially, the Gulf and the Middle East also consume this product practically every day. Similarly, safflower oil has been in use mostly in western and central India as these areas cultivate sunflower farms. Coconut oil has been one of the main ingredients in Ayurvedic preparations for skin care and related products, prescribed by Ayurveda doctors in some parts of the country, specially Kerala. The skin nourishing qualities of coconut oil is a well known fact and to develop that concept into a number of hygiene and cosmetic products needed a well thought out strategy. Perhaps, it is this deliberate policy of converting ordinary products into branded products by value addition or even value creation has been the business model for Marico.
Indian markets were not used to branding for daily consumption items. It took around 2 to 3 decades even for products like wheat flour, tea and coffee to be developed into branded products by well established corporates like ITC, Godrej, HUL, Nestle and Tata Coffee. In the case of Marico, it was a beginner even in 70s and 80s and did not enjoy the corporate image of a
In the current Indian business history, Marico is almost a miracle. Transforming traditional products like vegetable oils into well accepted branded products and developing the urban and rural markets almost simultaneously has been the success story of Marico. For Indians, who are used to corporate growth cases of multinational companies, an Indian corporate entity like Marico is a welcome revelation. It is something like the story of ‘Amul’.
Vegetable oils like coconut oil and safflower oil traditionally used in different parts of the country due to their proximity to farm growth centres, are products where traditional management has been very successful. Coconut oil has been essentially an oil used for consumption mainly in Kerala and neighbouring areas in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Keralites living in foreign countries specially, the Gulf and the Middle East also consume this product practically every day. Similarly, safflower oil has been in use mostly in western and central India as these areas cultivate sunflower farms. Coconut oil has been one of the main ingredients in Ayurvedic preparations for skin care and related products, prescribed by Ayurveda doctors in some parts of the country, specially Kerala. The skin nourishing qualities of coconut oil is a well known fact and to develop that concept into a number of hygiene and cosmetic products needed a well thought out strategy. Perhaps, it is this deliberate policy of converting ordinary products into branded products by value addition or even value creation has been the business model for Marico.
Indian markets were not used to branding for daily consumption items. It took around 2 to 3 decades even for products like wheat flour, tea and coffee to be developed into branded products by well established corporates like ITC, Godrej, HUL, Nestle and Tata Coffee. In the case of Marico, it was a beginner even in 70s and 80s and did not enjoy the corporate image of a