For Salman Khan’s fans, the festival of Eid usually marks the release of his latest films. But with the Covid-19 pandemic upending the Bollywood industry, the star has decided to use this occasion to launch his personal care brand.
This also marks Khan’s foray into hand-sanitisers, a segment which has seen the entry of hundreds of new players in the past three months.
Announcing the launch of his personal care brand FRSH, in a Twitter post, Khan said, “Our plan was to launch deodorants. But the need of the hour is hand sanitisers. Hence we have launched these hand sanitisers under the brand FRSH.”
“We will come out with deodorants too eventually. Also on the cards are body wipes and perfumes,” he added.
He said that initially the hand sanitisers will be available online, and they will make their début on store shelves gradually. “Coming soon to a store near you- FRSH hand sanitisers,” he said adding that the tag line for the new brand is, “Raho FRSH, Raho Safe.”
Over the past few years, Khan has been expanding his business ventures beyond making films and TV shows. He has been investing behind his private label brand Being Human, which is known for apparel and accessories. In 2017, he also launched Being Human e-cycles.
From FMCG companies to personal care and beauty product makers and from alcohol players and distilleries to paint companies, many players are making hand sanitisers in the country. While some of them have entered the space for commercial purposes, but others such as distilleries, sugar companies and liquor brands are making sanitisers to cater to the needs of the frontline health workers and police forces.
Hand sanitisers come under the Essential Commodities Act and prices have been fixed by the Central government. Khan’s hand sanitisers are priced in line with this government directive and 100 ml bottle comes for ₹50, while a 500 ml bottle is priced at ₹250.
According to estimates by Nielsen, nearly 153 new players entered the hand sanitiser space in India in March alone. Many new players have been announcing their entry into the hand sanitiser space, in line with consumers’ increased focus on health and hygiene due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A letter from the Editor
Dear Readers,
The coronavirus crisis has changed the world completely in the last few months. All of us have been locked into our homes, economic activity has come to a near standstill. Everyone has been impacted.
Including your favourite business and financial newspaper. Our printing and distribution chains have been severely disrupted across the country, leaving readers without access to newspapers. Newspaper delivery agents have also been unable to service their customers because of multiple restrictions.
In these difficult times, we, at BusinessLine have been working continuously every day so that you are informed about all the developments – whether on the pandemic, on policy responses, or the impact on the world of business and finance. Our team has been working round the clock to keep track of developments so that you – the reader – gets accurate information and actionable insights so that you can protect your jobs, businesses, finances and investments.
We are trying our best to ensure the newspaper reaches your hands every day. We have also ensured that even if your paper is not delivered, you can access BusinessLine in the e-paper format – just as it appears in print. Our website and apps too, are updated every minute, so that you can access the information you want anywhere, anytime.
But all this comes at a heavy cost. As you are aware, the lockdowns have wiped out almost all our entire revenue stream. Sustaining our quality journalism has become extremely challenging. That we have managed so far is thanks to your support. I thank all our subscribers – print and digital – for your support.
I appeal to all or readers to help us navigate these challenging times and help sustain one of the truly independent and credible voices in the world of Indian journalism. Doing so is easy. You can help us enormously simply by subscribing to our digital or e-paper editions. We offer several affordable subscription plans for our website, which includes Portfolio, our investment advisory section that offers rich investment advice from our highly qualified, in-house Research Bureau, the only such team in the Indian newspaper industry.
A little help from you can make a huge difference to the cause of quality journalism!
Sincerely,
Support Quality Journalism
