Patanjali Ayurved Ltd’s toothpaste brands have made a sizeable dent in an oligopolistic market. In 2017, its share more than doubled to 6.7% from a year ago, lowering the top three’s share to 86.8% from 92% in 2012. Then, Patanjali’s share was a mere 0.1%.
While Patanjali gained 6.6 percentage points of share since 2012, Dabur India Ltd’s share too rose by 1.5 percentage points. The losers are Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd, ceding 0.8 percentage point, and Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), losing 5.9 percentage points. But that’s not the full story. Till 2017, Colgate snatched share from HUL, but then gave up most of it subsequently. Patanjali’s rise has been consistent.
A 6.7% share gives Patanjali a strong base which it can leverage to grow its oral care business further. The competitive response from incumbents also appears to have galvanized market growth, with toothpaste sales growing by 13.9% in 2017 compared to 8% a year ago. That lessens the pain for the losing companies.