Fragrance of Kerala Soaps to reach Arabian shores
Industries Minister P Rajeeve to launch new products this weekend
Kochi / July 10, 2024
Kochi, July 10: Kerala Soaps is all set to export its premium sandalwood-based bathing bars and other niche products to the Gulf countries as part of the market-expansion endeavour of the century-old state-owned manufacturing unit under Kerala State Industrial Enterprises Limited (KSIE).
Minister for Industries, Law and Coir Shri P. Rajeeve will launch products for export to GCC countries at a function in Grand Hyatt at Bolgatty Island here on July 13.
The Minister will also launch eight other products of Kerala Soaps at the ceremony.
KSIE Chairman Shri Peelipose Thomas, addressing a press conference, said Kerala Soaps’ move is to strengthen the presence of its products in the international market. Its bathing bars carry extracts of pure sandal from the forests of Marayoor in the Western Ghats in Idukki district.
The other new products, all under Kerala Sandal label, are liquid sandal & neem hand-wash, Washwell (detergent), Cleanwell (floor-cleaner), Shinewell (dish-wash) and toilet soaps such as Kohinoor Sandal Turmeric, Thrill Lavender, Thrill Rose and Thrill White.
Committed to quality and innovation, the launch of the new set of products comes when Kerala Soaps is set to scale new heights in production and financial growth by expanding its market to countries under GCC (six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council), KSIE Managing Director Shri G. Rajeev said.
Established in 1914 during the British rule as The Kerala Soap Institute in Kozhikode, it was then the biggest such training establishment in Asia. Soaps produced by it instantly became popular with even the viceroy figuring among its regular users. After independence, the Kerala government took over the company in 1964. After protracted periods of lock-down, KSIE took over the company in 2010.
Kerala Soaps today has state-of-the-art automatic machinery capable of producing 12,000 metric tonnes of soap annually.
As it geared up its production capacity, the company installed new machinery that included a semi-automatic liquid filling machine, semi-automatic pouch sealing machine and an automatic sample soap stamping machine to augment commercial production.
The idea was to export the products to Arabian and other West Asian nations also.
Currently, Kerala Soaps sells its products through 3,000 supermarkets across the country. In Kerala, it has 85-odd distributors, which the management is striving to raise to 150 by the end of the current financial year.
The unit’s premium product is Kerala Sandal toilet soap, which has been maintaining high quality even as competitive pricing has made it much sought-after by consumers both in the domestic and overseas markets. Its wide range of quality toilets soaps includes Thrill, Vep, Kairali and Coaltar (carbolic soap), besides the most acknowledged Washwell washing-soap.
Using high-quality raw materials devoid of human touch, Kerala Soaps competes with frontline private players in the market.
The products of Kerala Soaps will be increasingly marketed abroad during this fiscal. The company’s sales touched 803.25 metric tonnes of soap within Kerala and outside in 2023-24, to register its highest turnover by far. Its net profit stood at Rs 282.08 lakh, Kerala Soaps General Manager Shri C.B. Babu said. The turnover, combining that of all the KSIE units, during the period was Rs 7,309.06 lakh. The profit so far this fiscal stands at Rs 500.05 lakh.
In the current fiscal, Kerala Soaps is busy augmenting its production for increased presence in the international market. The company has set a targeted net profit of Rs 300 lakh in 2024-25.
KSIE, a holding company under the state’s Department of Industries & Commerce since 1973, was primarily mandated to nurse back and revive the sick units in the public sector. In 1993, KSIE delinked its subsidiaries, which became independent entities.
Today KSIE’s main activities include cargo operations at the Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram airports, Kerala Soaps at Kozhikode, Cochin International Container Freight Station at Kalamassery near Ernakulam, marketing through business centres in Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Kochi, Kozhikode and Palakkad; and running the infrastructure division in the state capital.
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