Norex has been redefining and delivering quality products since their inception in 1994, by manufacturing and exporting an extensive assortment of aromatic chemicals and essential oils. Vaibhav Kumar Agrawal, Managing Director of Norex Flavours Private Limited shares insights of the Norex success story in an exclusive interview.
1. Norex is engaged in producing and exporting a wide product line including fragrance & flavour products. The major industries that Norex serves with your high-quality product range are Chewing Gum, Pharmaceuticals & Health care, Confectionary, Cosmetic & Personal Care Industry, Flavours, Fragrances, Oral Care, Aromatherapy, Beauty & Spa & Home Care. How challenging has it been during the pandemic and what is its impact on your business overall? The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on every aspect of our flavour and fragrance industry. The impact has been significant, from production, shortages of raw materials due to air traffic restrictions, to closures of manufacturing unit. But as covid pushed the beauty and personal care industry to grow rapidly. With more and more citizens understanding the importance of hygiene and personal care. Hence Luckily for us, the fragrance was used in hand sanitiser gel, handwash, detergents and other hygiene related products rather than being used in perfumes, which have taken a back seat and that somehow maintained the balance in sales during this pandemic too. 2. The pandemic has been a significant contributor to the rise in demand for personal care products in India. How do you see market changes in the personal care and home care segment during the post Covid era? The beauty and personal care industry have grown exponentially over the last few years; especially since the COVID-19 ordeal pushed the industry to grow rapidly. With more and more citizens understanding the importance of hygiene and personal care, personal care product sales are soaring high. And after covid era also people will keep on following this trend. The demand for personal hygiene and homecare products is expected to rise further in the coming days due to the growing awareness among consumers in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. I believe that the pandemic has made consumers more aware of need to maintain hygiene, at a personal level as well as at home, to reduce the chances of infection and this is expected to become a trend in the long run. 3. How is India placed in terms of emerging as a hub for manufacturing for the home and personal care industry? The Indian government has launched Atmanirbhar Scheme and many other such programs to support the domestic industry, how is Norex taking the initiative within this sector? Beauty and personal care (BPC) market in India is expected to touch a height of growth, on the back of evolving consumer awareness and aspirations. While in the India the market is predominantly urban, going forward, growth is expected to rise in rural markets too. Rise in the incidence of various disease and improved awareness regarding skin health among people are a few of the significant factors that propel market growth. Furthermore, easy accessibility of these products through company websites and online channels, and doorstep delivery are driving the Indian market. For the Scheme Atmanirbhar Bharat, at Norex we are trying to help and train farmers, to provide them awareness about benefits of growing aromatic plants and helping them during complete plantation period for technical guidance that they need. With this the import of such kind of natural aromatics will get lessen and somehow Norex will also become Atmanirbhar. 4. What are the distinctive products and services that you are planning to offer to the consumer to augment their experience in the home and personal care sector? At Norex We continue to develop new, superior product offerings that address the needs and wants consumers who are increasingly concerned about the ingredients in their products, and 'sustainability' consumers who are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of how their products are produced, packaged, used and disposed of." We follow the consumers trends; we develop products accordingly. Like we are working on stability of natural fragrances, bio perfumes and many more upcoming projects. 5. Norex started its own e-commerce website Norexmart what was the motive behind it? Starting our own e-commerce website was the way to be more active on digital platform, a way to enhance brand awareness, acquire loyal customers, gain new insights, and get creative with marketing strategies. Also, a way to make people know more about flavour and fragrance industry, With the help of this website customer can directly reach us can buy online pay online so basically it is like with the help of Norexmart you are just one click away to treat your senses. 6. Consumers today are veering towards natural ingredients in addition to conventional ingredients. How does this change the overall landscape of the industry in terms of demand and preference? Many of today’s consumers are demanding greater transparency in the products they purchase, including knowing where their products come from and what their ingredients are. Similarly, the demand is high for the products that are formulated using key ingredients. consumers are well-aware of environmental protection and sustainability questions (Animal protection, active agent—pollutant relations). Therefore, new cosmetic ingredients also have to pass an environmental protection criterion. The newest development trends of cosmetics are based on researching the natural ingredients that block skin aging. 7. With the lockdown coming to an ease at various levels multiple issues and complexities have arisen especially in managing supply chain. So how do you think that “Be Vocal for Local: Bringing Indian retail brands to the forefront” has made changes in HPC business? Local for vocal has literally made a huge change, India’s urban young turned to local brands and sustainable products and took a fancy to organic and ayurvedic solutions as the coronavirus pandemic reshaped consumer behaviour, in many surveys it was observed that consumers were ready to buy a less-known brand with a preference for local brands to international ones in categories such as fast-moving consumer goods, personal and home care, health products and apparel. Though there is still a dominance of international products, the demand is slowly shifting towards home-grown brands. Word of mouth and social media influencers played an important role. “Users turn to social media, friends and family to find out what their experience has been before purchasing a product. 8. There is a surge and demand for chemical-free products. What is your observation about this? As a result of environmental awareness, trends led by young consumers, and greater knowledge about wellness, many of today’s consumers are demanding greater transparency in the products they purchase. More consumers want to know where their products come from and what their ingredients are, hence, this has affected the formulations too. Hence there is somehow more diversion towa 9. Can you make some future predictions that how the market of personal care is going to be in upcoming years? What do you think the changes you will observe in the time coming? Clean beauty will rise and will touch every product category, growing preference for natural and organic personal care (NOPC) products, increasing adoption of Augmented Reality (AR) in the beauty industry, growing demand for anti - aging products, and increasing popularity of men’s grooming products are some of the key factors that are expected to drive the market over the forecast period. • Milder ingredients to gain prominence in personal care ingredients market. • Multifunctional or the one-product fits all approach will drive the market.