In the coming years, we will be focusing more on healthcare business: Mohit Burman

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At the recently held India Brand Conclave, Mohit Burman, Chairman of Dabur India, sat down for a fireside chat with Nawal Ahuja, Co-founder of exchange4media. The discussion revolved around the recent acquisitions made by the company, its legacy of sustainable business, and more.

The 140-year-old FMCG major recently acquired Badshah Masala and Eveready Industries. Reflecting on the acquisitions and their expansion plan, Burman shared, “Historically, the business started in Calcutta in 1884 and the idea was to make ayurvedic products to serve the middle and lower class with affordable medicines. Over the years, the business became more professionalised. It became a mainstream FMCG company and we started competing with big Indian multinational companies like P&G. There was a lot of emphases on newer product categories and the overall growth of the brand. Our portfolio of healthcare business has been growing phenomenally ever since the outbreak of Covid, so we will be focusing more on the healthcare business in the coming years.”

Also, Dabur plans to expand the health & beauty category by opening more stores where customers will get all sorts of products, he added.

Talking about investing in Badshah Masala, Burman explained, “Besides focusing on the healthcare & beauty category, Dabur also deals in other categories like food & beverages and spice, which alone has a market of Rs 25,000 crore. Also, India has few national players and more regional players in the spice category. Badshah Masala, which entails a significant market in Maharashtra and Gujarat, is a major regional player in the market. Dabur has made the acquisition to expand the market and make Badshah Masala a national player in the coming years. It is based on a lot of research. Undoubtedly, Dabur could add value to the regional brand, making it a national brand.”

Coming to Eveready, Burman mentioned that the idea behind investing in Eveready is to incentivise the business for its overall growth.

Discussing the challenges that the FMCG sector is currently facing, Burman elaborated, “FMCG sector is witnessing high inflation and rising cost of raw materials, which has forced companies to reduce their advertising budgets.”

Moving to the topic of sustainable business, Burman mentioned that the company uses electric vehicles for delivery services and is working in the water-positive areas.

Furthermore, Burman gave a little brief on how the IPL business has evolved in the last few years. “Initially, when IPL started, only bricks & mortar companies were investing in it. But the business has drastically changed since the costs of media rights went up,” he mentioned.

On being asked to elaborate how his leadership style helps him manage the multiple businesses that the company has, Burman said the key was to associate with the right people to run the business, and define the purpose that the business serves.

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