KUALA LUMPUR: Wipro Unza (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Southeast Asia's leading manufacturer of personal care products, is eyeing to capture the halal cosmetics segment in developing markets such as Asia and Africa in 2019.
Chief executive officer Sriram Krishnamurthy said the target is in parallel to the company's strategic move forward for this year, to expand to new markets and introduce its product range to these new markets.
“We are looking at venturing into new Asia and Africa markets this year as part of our expansion plans moving forward and we are also expanding to other new markets.
“By capturing the halal cosmetic market, we hope to get a slice of the halal market by taking advantage of the higher demand from Muslim consumers that are looking for halal cosmetics products,” he told NST Business in an interview recently.
The company crossed the US$1 billion mark in consumer business last year and has recorded tremendous growth with more than 50 per cent coming from international businesses.
Sriram said the company has grown 21 times in the last 18 years globally and 7 per cent annually for its Malaysian operations.
It has presence in Indonesia, Vietnam, China and Middle East.
“For Malaysia, we have annual capital expenditure budget of RM7 million to RM8 million. We aim to become the number one in personal care company in the country.
“Over the past years we have grown and within the next two to three years, we aim to be number one in Malaysia.
“We expect aggressive growth in other markets such as Indonesia and Middle East compared to Malaysia as Malaysia has grown quite considerably in halal segment,” he said.
Sriram said Indonesian market could roughly be about 10 times the size of Malaysian halal market while the Middle East halal market, which the company aim to venture, will leverage on volume.
“We do 65 to 70 new launches every year. None of our competitors do this kind of launches and this is what sets us apart. For us, Malaysia is a key market as it is also the birthplace of Unza," he said.
In 2016, Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting Group (WCCG), acquired 100 per cent stake in Zhongshan MaEr Daily Products Ltd (ZME), a Chinese fast-moving consumer goods company, for an undisclosed amount after six-year of negotiations.
Wipro Unza is a subsidiary of WCCG, while ZME is located in China, specialized in personal care and household products.
“In China, we are focusing the southern part of the country as the acquisition of ZME made us stronger there,” he added.
ZME has brand such as Enear, Zici and Vcnic in personal care range and Pahnli and Sunew for fabric care.
China is the third largest market for Wipro Consumer Care after India and Malaysia respectively.
Aiming to be among the fastest growing fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) player in Asia and top 5 player in Asia, Wipro Unza services an estimated 258,000 retail outlets across South East Asia and Greater China, including major retailers as well as independent retailers.
Wipro Unza currently has about 2,500 employees in its Malaysia’s operations comprising both Wipro Unza and LD Waxson Ltd.