This is critical for investors to differentiate between temporary external shocks (weather-induced softness) and secular demand trends. It suggests that the underlying portfolio remains strong and the decline is not due to competitive displacement or structural declines in core brands.

“The talcum powder and prickly heat powder category, which is highly dependent on summer demand, was significantly impacted and declined by 17%. Excluding talc and prickly heat powders, our core domestic business delivered a healthy 6% revenue growth and a 3% volume growth, reflecting the underlying strength and resilience of our broader offerings. It is important to contextualize the 17% year-on-year decline in talc and prickly heat powder range, which comes off a significantly high base of 54% growth in last year's same quarter. So on a 2-year CAGR basis, this category continues to be healthy with a 13% growth. And when we look at the full summer season, that is from Jan to June '25, the category posted flat growth, despite weather-related headwinds, a clear reflection of consumer stickiness and a very strong brand equity.”

— Mohan Goenka, Director & Chairperson

This insight reveals Emami’s strategic commitment to male grooming, accepting past challenges but emphasizing pipeline innovation and brand rejuvenation.

“I think Male Grooming is still a very underexploited and an underdeveloped segment of the market, and we are seeing ... there is a huge potential for that. ...we have not really worked on the brand and the top of the funnel for some time, and I think that rejuvenation is required. We are already seeing a trend where if you look at sequential trends... they are looking positive and month-on-month, it's looking better. So from that perspective, we strongly believe that this is a segment that will grow quite handsomely in the near term as long as we work on the fundamentals.”

— Mohan Goenka, Director & Chairperson

It confirms increased strategic focus on fast-growing organized retail and online channels, underscoring a shift toward modern trade and quick commerce amid traditional channel pressures .

“See, for sure, we are not competing with each other. There is a clear market. They are primarily e-commerce and others. Their pricing is very different than what we are doing.”

Both for the Man company, they are more into fragrances and other categories. We are more into some personal care and other categories and pricing is also different.

“...We are definitely focusing after our relaunch big time. And let us see which brand we get traction, it is very difficult for us to say at this point of time. But we're not going to leave this, because it's a prime brand for us, both Man and Smart & Handsome.”

— Mohan Goenka, Director & Chairperson

This strategic clarity on focusing innovation within core franchise brands, combined with digital channel acceleration, signals a disciplined growth approach. It also reveals a calibrated capital allocation strategy.

“But excluding the talc, honestly, and with the relaunch of Kesh King in this quarter and some of the new launches in Smart & Handsome, I'm confident that we will be able to recover much better. There are definitely some green shoots. I'm not saying no in urban areas either. But unless the overall results, overall sentiment goes up, which in our case, is backed by the summer, unfortunately, and specifically talc. Other than that, I think we are very, very well placed.”

— Mohan Goenka, Director & Chairperson

The international business is segmented, with some geographies showing strong momentum and others posing short-term risks. The mention of scaling new markets with focused portfolios indicates a strategic shift toward geographic diversification and possibly more localized product development.

“International business showed around 2% growth because of one country — Bangladesh — where we had a decline. Rest of the business has grown close to 14%. The issue is largely market-specific in Bangladesh. We are refreshing efforts to get back on track there.”

“New geographies are a continuous effort along with portfolio development to make the current portfolio relevant. We scaled up one new geography successfully in the last 5–6 months, not naming it at the moment.During this financial year, we will open new geographies facilitated with new portfolio launches.”

— Mohan Goenka, Director & Chairperson