From powders to liquids: Competition heats up in liquid cleaners market in India

Kolkata|Mumbai: Powders and bars are passe - liquids are cleaning up the market. India is showing a distinct shift in consumption habits, with liquid products in soaps, detergents and dish cleaners being adopted readily, executives at top companies said.

Aided by the growth in ecommerce, competition in liquids cleaners is heating up with the entry of multiple new players - not just in cities but in smaller towns too.

According to a recent report by researcher Kantar, just two categories in the home and personal care segment added more than 10 million new consumers in 2023, both in the liquid format. Liquid fabric softeners and washes added 14 million and 13.1 million new users, respectively. Against the overall fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market growth of 5%, these segments grew 13% and 20% each, Kantar estimated.


Sales of such products have accelerated at a faster pace than solids and powders. Hindustan Unilever (HUL), ITC and Colgate-Palmolive India are expanding their liquid products portfolio.

This is across brands and price points, making liquid soaps and washes the next hotspot.

Everyone’s vying for a piece of the pie — startups as well as established brands such as Mamaearth, Wow, Safewash, Santoor and Wipro Consumer Care’s Chandrika, Godrej Fab and several other labels of ecommerce majors and retailers.

Sameer Satpathy, divisional chief executive of personal care products at ITC, said the shift reflects the needs of an aspirational society looking for premium products that are unique and differentiated. “This trend is further fuelled by the penetration of ecommerce and digital acceleration,” he said.

HUL chief executive and managing director Rohit Jawa told analysts last month that there was a macro-secular trend of consumers moving toward liquids across categories. He said there is more competition now from tier II brands, especially in fabric wash liquids. That market has now opened up and become sizable, with many global and local players having entered, he said.

Jawa said HUL has already built a liquids business of almost Rs 4,000 crore across categories and relaunched liquid Surf Excel and Vim, leading to higher growth last fiscal.

ITC has been betting on labels such as Fiama, Dermafique, Savlon and Nimwash to expand its liquids play. Analysts believe Colgate-Palmolive plans to expand the Palmolive brand much faster than its oral care business, with a focus on products such as body wash.

The growth rate for liquid products is upwards of 50-60%, compared with the single-digit pace of growth in powders and bars. Lower penetration of liquid products has a part to play. As Jawa pointed out, the reach of bodywashes is still under 2%. This compares with 90-95% for soaps.

Supermarkets are also said to be driving the shift to liquids. Reliance Retail sells more machine wash liquids than powders, which is part of the “bullish, growing and premiumising” of supermarkets in India, chief executive for the grocery business, Damodar Mall, posted on X in January.