TTK Prestige enters home cleaning business

TTK Prestige, the country's largest kitchenware firm, has expanded into home products space with mops, vacuum cleaners and floor polishers, as growth of its main business slows across the country.

This is the first time the company has moved out of its core kitchen business in its 60-odd year history.

Prestige Clean Home will function in the home appliances space which is growing at about 30 per cent annually as opposed to the Rs 10,000-crore kitchen appliances market where growth has stalled. The market for home cleaning appliances is pegged to be Rs 2,500 crore. "The entry into cleaning products is our next push for growth. We intend to build a huge portfolio, for both routine and non-routine purposes,” said Chandru Kalro, MD at TTK Prestige.

The firm expects its home cleaning business to contribute five per cent of the company's overall revenue in the first year, and is targeting an annual growth of 50 per cent over the next five years. Prestige is expected to launch 20-odd products in four months, including an electric mop that was developed in-house and is manufactured in India.

While the market for home cleaning equipment and appliances is not mapped as a large portion of it is unorganised, TTK Prestige will go up against existing firms such as Eureka Forbes that functions in the vacuum cleaners and air purifiers. It will also have to compete with several Chinese brands that are now making their way to India. TTK Prestige's stock fell Rs 41.8 or 0.9 per cent to close at Rs 4,473.3 on the BSE on Thursday.

"This is the first time we're venturing outside of the kitchen. The cleaning appliances market is growing at 25-30 per cent and there are a few entities," said T T Jagannathan, executive chairman at TTK Prestige.

In terms of distribution, the company is planning to ride on the channel it has built for kitchenwares but also plans to tap home appliance sellers. Given that direct online sales currently contributes four per cent of TTK's overall revenue, it will also utilise its direct presence on Flipkart, Snapdeal and other marketplaces to sell its cleaning products.

TTK Prestige's stock closed Rs 41.85 or 0.093 per cent at Rs 4,473.35 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Thursday.