Nobel Hygiene, India’s first and only baby and adult diaper manufacturer, has received the first tranche of funding boost to the tune of $11.5 Mn through Access India Fund and its co-investors. Nobel Hygiene, headquartered in Mumbai, was promoted by its first generation promoter, Kamal Kumar Johari, in 2000. The company also manufactures baby diapers in private label for leading retail chains like TESCO Star Bazar, METRO Cash & Carry, Max Hypermarket.
Nobel Hygiene Limited, headquartered in Mumbai, is a dominant market leader in the manufacture of adult diapers, a fast growth sunrise segment with growth rate of over 30% p.a. over the last 4 years in India. It also manufactures and markets baby diapers, a segment which has seen greater than 50% growth over the last 5 years.
Nobel’s adult diapers are sold under the brand name ‘Friends’ and its baby diapers are sold under the brand name, ‘Teddyy’. Kamal Kumar Johari, Managing Director, Nobel Hygiene Limited says, "Friends is now a 10-year-old brand and we are now well-recognized for the high quality of our products. Nobel Hygiene is the only Indian Company to have installed state-of-the-art European manufacturing lines. We continue to source our machinery and raw material from some of the best suppliers globally." The investment in Nobel Hygiene will be used to enhance as well as double its existing manufacturing capacity.
Achal Nath at Access India Fund says, "Diapers is one of the most interesting FMCG segments in India today. We expect to see significant sustained growth over the next 10 years given the low adoption rates and increasing disposable incomes. The adult diaper market in India, for example, is estimated at US$ 30 Mn as against the US$ 9 Bn global market (about 40% of the baby diapers market). The Chinese market even at US$ 300 Mn is still growing at 30% plus per annum. The Indian adult diaper segment has the potential to grow into a significantly large FMCG category with India having the second largest 65+ year’s population in the world. Nobel’s adult diaper brand is the only brand in its category with pan India distribution today." According to AC Nielsen, baby diapers were the fastest growth FMCG category in medium size Indian towns between May 2010 and May 2011 with 75% category growth.