CONSUMERS

UNDERSTANDING NEEDS, transforming experiences

Keeping consumers at the centre of our value-creation approach, we aspire to transform customer experience by delivering quality products that complement their uncovered needs.

Our agile operation model, advance production facilities, experienced research teams and strong supply chain network work in synergy to develop and distribute trusted products. Well-connected distribution channel ensures availability and easy accessibility of these products to our consumers.

Our work principles are influenced by consumer-centric culture that empathises with consumer needs, values feedback, believes in timely response and looks forward to bringing satisfaction and delight to every consumer.

Our Consumer Value Proposition

Affordability

Offer benefit to the consumers through affordable and fair priced products

Availability

Offer benefit to the consumers through affordable and fair priced products

Early Innovation

Meet evolving needs of consumers by catching early trends and innovation across product categories

Product Sustainability

Re-invent product formulation, packaging, quality and health benefits to meet consumers' stated and unstated needs and provide desired experience

Purposeful Brands

Products with strong purpose covering beauty, wellness, health and nutrition

Consumer-centric R&D

To deliver on our consumer value proposition of providing exceptional product experience at affordable price points, we are constantly innovating and creating unique and differentiated product offerings that address consumers' growing needs. Through our best-inclass research and development (R&D) facility at Mumbai, we ensure that every product we develop meets the highest standards of quality. The team comprises of 94 domain experts (of which 50 are women) with extensive experience in science, technology, and pharmacology.

Innovation within Healthy Foods Range Marico is a keen proponent of healthy and active lifestyle. We not only reach out to consumers with our healthy products, but also engage with relevant stakeholders to bring a behavioural change towards making the right choice in eating and healthy living.

Healthy food range has witnessed significant innovations in FY22 that aim to provide nutrition and build immunity of our consumers. We extended our Saffola Immuniveda range of products with the major objective towards providing health benefits and improving the immunity of our consumers.

FY22 Food Innovations that help our consumers lead with health and happiness

Sugar-free variant of Golden Turmeric Milk and traditional ayurvedic sugar-free Kadha mix along with the age-old ayurvedic recipe for improving immune health, the Saffola Immuniveda Chywanprash.

Saffola launched NMR Tested Honey, Premium Wild Forest Organic Honey containing natural antioxidants bearing benefits.

Exploring the 'Ready to Eat' category with the right balance of nutrition and taste, Saffola launched a healthy tasty and high protein snacking spread, Saffola Peanut Butter with jaggery and no added refined sugar. For all types of consumers, Saffola expanded its footprints via its health and wellness DTC brand Saffola FITTIFY with 7 variants of Peanut butter like Natural Peanut Butter-Unsweetened, Whey Protein Peanut Butter-Unsweetened, Plant Protein Peanut Butter, Vegan Protein Peanut Butter, Tasty Peanut Butter- Dark Chocolaty, Whey Protein Peanut Butter- Dark Chocolaty, Original Peanut Butter with Omega 3.

Saffola Mayonnaise with the goodness of milk cream and Vitamin A, D and, E also entered the market this year.

Innovation within Personal Care Range Marico’s personal care products undergo innovation to address specific issues faced by consumers. In FY22, some of our advanced hair oil products like Jataa for Men and Parachute Advanced Onion hair oil were launched on digital commerce platforms to amplify consumer outreach.

FY22 Personal Care Innovations that help our consumers lead with confidence and satisfaction

Sugar-free variant of Golden Turmeric Milk and traditional ayurvedic sugar-free Kadha mix along with the age-old ayurvedic recipe for improving immune health, the Saffola Immuniveda Chywanprash.

Saffola launched NMR Tested Honey, Premium Wild Forest Organic Honey containing natural antioxidants bearing benefits.

Innovation with Packaging
Marico conducts several packaging design innovation projects to arrive at solutions that ensures product safety till end use, while driving sustainability.


In FY22, the Packaging team won 15 Packaging Excellence Awards from different renowned institutions and industry forums

Awareness through Product Labelling
Transparent communication through product labelling helps in spreading awareness about our products among consumers, which in turn, builds their trust in our brands.

We also communicate the nutritional benefits on our labels designed as per the Food Safety and Standards (Advertainment and Claims) Regulation 2018 and mention benefits of balanced diet and exercise for our consumers.


By November 2021, we ensured that our entire portfolio of food product labels display relevant nutrient details, including Saturated fat, Trans fat, Added Sugar, Sodium, and Dietary fibres on the product labels

FY22 Packaging Innovations

Bi-injection cap for Parachute Coconut Oil in Bangladesh to ensure the consumers receive genuine products which are difficult to counterfeit in market.

The hexagonal beehive design squeezy pack for Saffola Honey provides easy usage, drip-free dispensing and better spreadability of honey for the consumers.

Agran, Shea and Almond oil were launched in Marico Middle-east and North Africa (MENA) with premium packs having superior aesthetics and premium look and feel.

New and more robust caps were designed for Parachute Coconut Oil to ensure that the oil packs ordered online are delivered to the consumer without damage.

FY22 Optimised Packaging Update

200 MT

Reduction in plastic consumption in our rigid packaging

33%

Reduction in label thickness across hair oil portfolio

33%

Weight reduction in overall paper consumption through removal of mono carton in hair serum product Livon and shifting from 5-layer to 3-layer in outer case packaging

The total reduction in carbon footprint from these sustainable packaging interventions are detailed out in the Circular Economy section of the Environment chapter

In-house product testing facilities Our R&D facilities are well equipped with modern analytical instruments (HPLC/GC/ MS) that are used to analyze levels (ppm to %) of key ingredients, actives, contaminants, in our products. Inputs from analytical teams are critical for storage stability studies, quality checks, nutrition labelling, claim substantiation, process optimisation, competition benchmarking and new vendor clearance as per Marico standards.

Our cell culture facility tests product efficacy and scientifically measures benefits such as shine, strength of hair, compatibility of hair, hair breakage, skin moisturisation, skin lightening and so on. We even partner with reputed analytical labs to support commercial batch testing. As a part of our policy, none of our products are tested on animals.

Offering Safe and High-Quality Products

Product safety and uncompromised quality are of utmost priority to us, at Marico. Marico's quality Management Framework governs ingredient safety and product quality at each stage in the value chain. Well-defined implementation and monitoring systems help in achieving 100% compliance with regulatory requirements.


All our products are tested in accordance with the applicable regulations at laboratories conforming to ISO/IEC 17025 and are certified by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration (NABL)

Product quality and compliance

Raw materials

We meticulously select the best quality raw materials and packaging essentials. This is to ensure that they are of the finest quality and are in-line with consumer expectations. We follow a rigorous safety process to analyse every ingredient before we consider it for our products.

Suppliers

We perform exhaustive quality audits for suppliers and maintain strict controls with respect to reliability and traceability. It enables us to ensure the quality of raw materials and packaging essentials.

Manufacturing

Our manufacturing units are USFDA, Halal, FSSC-22000 ver 4, HACCP certified, which ensure that robust systems and processes are in place to deliver high quality output.

Packaging

Strict controls on the quality of final packaging is maintained to ensure a pleasant consumer experience.

Finished products

Our teams ensure that the formula is compatible with its packaging throughout the shelf-life duration mentioned on our products.

Product Compliance

Value chain partners are mandated to undertake certifications related to product quality compliance, ingredient safety (including efficacy, use of artificial/ hazardous substances), responsible and ethical sourcing. Ingredients are procured only from those partners who have successfully completed the mandatory certifications and screening metrics. Compliance with global regulations pave the route for registration of products across geographies.

We adhere to following protocols for ingredient safety assessment

International Standard Organisation (ISO); European Union (EU); Gulf Standard Organisation (GSO); Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Vietnam chemical database system; Taiwan's chemical substance inventory (TCSI); Korea- National chemical information system; Australian Inventory of Chemical Substances (AICS); Industrial Safety and Health Law (ISHL) - Japan; China Cosing Database; Philippines Inventory of Chemicals and Chemical Substances (PICCS); Chem Sec (SIN)- Sweden; ECHA SVHC - European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) (Substances of Very High Concern (SVHCs); Washington's Children's List; Proposition 65; California DTSC; GHS - Globally Harmonised system of classification & Labelling of chemicals.

We adhere to all applicable product related compliances listed below

National

FSSAI, BIS, Ayush, AGMARK, APEDA, D&C, Legal metrology

International

European Union (EU), Gulf Standard Organisation (GSO), Regulations from countries like – China, Australia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea, USA, Japan, Canada, Thailand, New Zealand and Philippines

On-job training program on product quality and safety

Our workforce and business associates attend technical as well as functional training sessions and capacity enhancement courses on quality, safety, material handling and associated guidelines to deliver uncompromised quality of products to consumers.

Training topics include

COVID – Protocols, Packaging and Product quality, IMEM, Legal compliance, Operations and Inspections SOP, Food Safety, HALAL, NABL, GMP, GHP, GLP, IMS training, FoSTac, HACCP and FSSC 22000 version 5.1, FOSCOS, USFDA, First-aid and Fire Safety, SWAM, 7QC tools , Risk Assessment training and others.

Over 650

Trainings across facilities investing more than 9,000 man-hours

Over 780

Marico members and 100% contractual workforce undertook these trainings

FY22 training highlights

Key Alliances to Accelerate India’s Journey towards Good Health

To promote shared goals on futureproofing consumers’ health and safety, we participate in several industry-led thought leadership initiatives and represent on various national and international regulatory forums to understand and provide inputs for framing regulations related to ingredient safety. In association with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), we run a diverse range of programs including:

Heart Health

A plethora of initiatives under the Saffolalife programme along with FSSAI

Safe and Nutritious Food

To educate school children on safe and healthy eating habits

Eat Right India

A collective effort by FSSAI and other key stakeholders, to spread the message of food hygiene to India's masses

Eat Right Movement

Dr. Prabodh Halde, Head- Technical Regulatory Affairs, Marico India receiving the Eat Right Patron Award

With the vision of transforming the country’s food habits into a healthy and sustainable system, FSSAI’s Eat Right Limited’ movement is a collective effort of key stakeholders and is aligned with Government’s recent focus on public health through its three key programs, namely ‘Ayushman Bharat’, ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, and ‘POSHAN Abhiyaan’.

Since last 5 years, Marico has actively been involved with Eat Right Initiative across In FY22, FSSAI jury recognised Marico as Eat Right Patron for exemplary work

the country to ‘Make a difference’ by promoting food safety and healthy eating habits among consumers.

In FY22, we supported and achieved 42 Eat Right Certifications and conducted 4 capacity development sessions, touching lives of nearly 50 lac beneficiaries.

Marico was also recognised with the prestigious Eat Right Patron Award. The recognition was given by Mr. Arjun Munda - Honorable Cabinet Minister of Tribal Affairs, Dr. Bharati Pawar – Honorable State Minister Health And Family Welfare, GOI and Mrs. Preeti Choudhary - Director FSSAI WR at the Eat Right Mela, Nashik.

Consumer Connect and Outreach

We, at Marico, have an established Consumer Services Cell since 2007 that handles consumer queries and feedback as per regulatory guidelines. The ISO 10002 certified Cell follows a structured mechanism to respond to all queries and resolve issues, if any.

Social Channels

Dedicated ORM desk established to track social media responses

Visibility

Contact details for customer feedback is given on every product pack and our website

Team

Consists of external contact center as well as internal quality team members

Training

Documented procedures and standardised training materials are prepared to train new joinees and conduct refresher training for existing members

Monitoring and Managing Risk

Crisis management protocol playbook and holding statements are readily available for reference. Measurable indicators like abandonment rate, first call resolution, average handling time, etc., are mapped to continuously measure and improve the consumer response management process. Periodic mystery quality audits are conducted

Process

Team members respond to consumers' queries and feedback based on FAQs to attempt first call resolution. If unresolved, level-based escalation matrix is followed. Escalated complaints & queries are immediately addressed by Corporate Quality Assurance team either through personal visit or email or phone/video calls. Post working hours, auto-responder mechanism is used to ensure a 24/7 connect with the consumers

Customer Relationship Management

Consumer complaints/feedback are managed through online portal ‘Darpan’ that helps with complaint lodging, root cause analysis, record actions taken, maintain consumer database and gather insights

Knowledge Management System

Internal knowledge portal consisting of defined protocols, FAQs, SOPs etc. is developed for contact centre. Technical dockets of consumer complaint responses are made available to Quality team members

The Quality team at Marico maintains strong connect with our consumers through various initiatives that are designed to enrich consumer experience, capture their insights, preference and incorporate their feedback to improve product configuration. Proactive approach undertaken includes tracking online reviews posted by consumers, preparing 360 degree questionnaire to engage with them, sharing new product samples with select consumers with personalised messages.

Consumer Satisfaction Index

Understanding and responding to our consumers' needs, concerns and interests are of utmost importance to Marico. For this, the team conducts customer satisfaction index surveys every year.

As on FY22, 96% of survey respondents have shown satisfaction against a target of 85%.

Rewards and Recognitions

Maintaining strong connect

National Consumer Day Celebration

On the occasion National Consumer Day, we had conducted an awareness campaign in presence of senior FSSAI officials in December 2021. Several live fun-based learning events were organised on topics of Consumer Rights, Consumer Protection Act, etc. It received an active and enthusiastic participation from all our internal members.

QINTEL App Launch

In FY22, we have launched a mobile App based platform QINTEL for our internal members to capture and share their usage experience and feedbacks on our products/ packaging, new competition packs, new product categories etc., which appear in markets across the regions

Responsible Marketing Campaigns for enhanced consumer experience

The Tamil avatar of Parachute Coconut Oil

Parachute Coconut Oil launched an exclusive pack of the iconic Parachute Coconut Oil for Tamil Nadu. The new packaging design celebrated Kolam, the traditional decorative art of Tamil Nadu, which complements the iconic pack, giving it a novel regional touch while retaining its classical familiarity. The new-yet-familiar packaging also carries the famous tagline “100% pure coconut oil” translated in Tamil to strengthen its connection to the regional consumer base. The product’s exclusive Tamil Nadu launch was accompanied by digital and print announcements as well as a TVC.

The TVC further underscored the product’s roots by drawing attention to the fact that the product’s raw material grows in Tamil Nadu, one of the major coconut farming states in India. The exclusive pack, therefore, was as much a new beginning as it is a homecoming for the brand in its Tamil avatar.


Nihar Naturals

A thought-provoking TVC campaign by Nihar Naturals highlights how hair is not just a marker of beauty and femininity for a woman but also a reflection of her chosen identity and an expression of her self-esteem. With its intellectual focus centred on the experiences of the modern Bengali woman, the TVC underscores the brand’s role as an essential companion for her hair as she undertakes the transformative journey to achieve her aspirations.


Saffolalife ‘World Heart Day’

Saffolalife has always championed the cause of heart health with a vision to create a ‘Heart Healthy India’. In line with its objective to bring about effective change, Saffolalife launched yet another impactful campaign on World Heart Day 2021.

There have been many studies which have identified disparities between coronary heart diseases amongst men and women. While both men and women are impacted by heart problems, research shows that women are less likely than men to get their heart checked. This is because the signs of poor heart health do not appear as visibly in women as they do in men. This puts them at greater risk. This is further exacerbated by the lack of self-awareness among women about risk factors and the prevention of CVDs.

Therefore, Saffolalife urged women to choose #SelfCare, by getting a simple heart check up done and encourage the other woman in her life to get one too.


Saffola Plain Oats

Saffola Oats with its new TVC campaign attempts to revitalise Oats consumption experience in Kerala. The story revolves around the life of a young couple who have a typical banter at the breakfast table. The husband assumes the oats porridge to be the mundane experience he's used to and doesn't pay attention to it despite the wife asking him to do so. The brand enters the film when the husband takes his first bite of the oats porridge and realises that its much creamier than usual. This is when the wife informs him of the soft grains of Saffola Oats that lead to creamy porridge providing a much more enjoyable oats consumption experience.


Saffola Oodles #DoTheRings

Saffolalife has always championed the cause of heart health with a vision to create a ‘Heart Healthy India’. In line with its objective to bring about effective change, Saffolalife launched yet another impactful campaign on World Heart Day 2021.

Saffola Oodles’ #DoTheRings campaign was launched to build excitement and fun around the launch of the Saffola Oodles brand.

The key attribute of the brand, the Ring Shape was used to create a clutter breaking ring-eye hook-step and was amplified across digital and social. This helped spike the awareness about Oodles in the target audience and weave fun and excitement into snack time.


SET WET

SET WET’s campaign with long-time ambassador Ranveer Singh shows Ranveer in a pre-historic alter ego. It showcases the ingenuity, creativity, and cheeky nature of youth today, and aims to give young men a timely tip on the art of making an impression. The campaign aired across TV and digital platforms, complimented by the debut of an all-new look and packaging for SET WET products.

SET WET has played a key role in standing by young men, and helping them showcase the best version of themselves and display their innate playful, sexy and charming side with the time-tested motto, ‘Sada Sexy Raho’.


Just Herbs

Sameera’s aura syncs perfectly with Just Herb’s brand ethos. Her raw and real self has always been and that’s exactly brand’s promise: Transparency and Honesty. The brand collaborated with Sameera Reddy for Just Herb’s latest age -defense range to promote the idea of preserving one’s natural beauty without having to worry about any reactions that may occur due to the potency of active ingredients.

Another campaign with Sameera was to draw attention to the alarming amount of lipstick that a woman consumes in a lifetime. Discontinuing the use of lipsticks is definitely not a valid solution. Therefore, the brand’s herb-enriched liquid lipstick comes as the answer to all your glam needs without dumping unnecessary nasties in your body!


Beardo

Beardo’s newest campaign Arrival of Don Beardo features the hottest celebrity of B-town Hrithik Roshan.

The 45 seconder film intimately highlights the characteristics of a true BEARDO - impeccable style, confident personality, and killer looks. Each aspirational quality has been naturally embraced by Hrithik in his larger-than-life persona, both on-screen and off it. The campaign’s opening line - “Wanna Play Don?” sets the tone for what men can expect when they groom with Beardo.

Driven by timeless unwavering style, the vision behind the campaign is to inspire men to hone their sexiness and irresistibility by unleashing the BEARDO within.


Saffola Honey

Saffola Honey collaborated with the renowned actress Priya Mani for its new TVC campaign. The TVC aimed at generating conversations around the need for Indian consumers to demand the certification of purity and quality of the products they consume. The film highlights that Saffola Honey is 100% Pure Honey which passes all FSSAI standards and other advanced tests for any added sugar/ exogeneous adulteration, further underscores its commitment to delivering high-quality, zero adulteration products to its consumers.


Saffola Honey (Bangladesh)

To cater to the consumers pursuing healthy lifestyle, Saffola Honey was launched in 2020. Saffola Honey delivers great nutrition value and immunity boosting benefits to consumers. As one of the most trusted international brands in the region, Saffola Honey has continued its journey with its proposition of purity – which is further substantiated by international lab testing of each batch to ensure the 100% purity of each jar of Saffola honey.


Parachute Naturale Shampoo (Bangladesh)

Parachute Naturale Shampoo was launched with 3 exciting variants: Nourishing Care, Anti Hair-Fall and Damage Repair. The brand rolled out campaigns highlighting the route of “Say Yes to Parachute Naturale Shampoo” to further strengthen the brand’s natural shampoo proposition.


Caivil Colour Shines (South Africa)

At the beginning of FY22, Caivil underwent a packaging relaunch of its Caivil Colour Shines Hair Colour range.

Considering that consumers use hair colour not only to cover grey hair but also to make a style statement and augment their personality. Caivil was perceived to be a brand for an older audience and did not stand out on shelf.

Thus, began the journey to give the Caivil Colour Shines a revamp and ultimately give the mother brand the boost that it needed. The positioning was altered to give the brand a trendier and more youthful feel, thus making it relatable to the consumer. The packaging now encompasses the signature gold colour and incorporates the use of fashion mood boards to create a world of colour; the shoes, nail polish, fashion that pair with the hair colour to evoke a sense of ‘a world of colour’.

This relaunch was support by a 360 plan that incorporated digital advertising, the use of influencers, TV promotion, instore support, digital, radio and OOH advertising.

Keeping consumers at the centre of our value creation approach, we aspire to transform customer experience by delivering quality products that complement their uncovered needs.