Fabric odour cleaner from P&G

Procter & Gamble Home Products Ltd (P&G) recently test-launched its fabric odour cleaner, Febreze, in Chennai. Mr. V. Shankar, associate director of marketing said that the product, the first of its kind in the country, doesn''t suppress odours like air fresheners or perfumes do. It completely eliminates odours trapped in fabrics permanently.

According to him, P&G is creating a new category in the domestic home care industry with this product. While there are stain removers and cleansers in the market, there is no product to remove the odours present in fabrics and difficult-to-wash items such as upholstery, bedding, car seats, curtains and carpets.

The company plans to target car owners, households and institutions such as hotels, hospitals, airlines and garment shops, where the use of fabrics/upholstery are higher. The company will be test marketing the product first in Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai. Based on the response, the product would then be marketed on a national scale. Febreze, introduced first in US and later in Europe, Australia and Japan, clocks global sales of $ 350 million. In order to have a wider Asian presence, P&G has launched the fabric odour remover simultaneously in India, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. P&G will currently importing the solution and decide on manufacturing the product in the country only based on the market response.

Febreze comes in two pack sizes of 400 ml and 200 ml, priced at Rs 160 and Rs 110 respectively. When asked about the negligible price difference between the two packs, Mr Shankar responds that the product is to be used daily and consumers would be benefited if they buy the bigger pack. In case of institutions, the company may consider supplying in bulk.