Wipro forays into honey market

Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting, a division of the IT major Wipro Limited, has forayed into the market for honey by launching its product under the name 'Sanjeevani'.

At a press conference to announce the launch of the product, Nagender Arya, general manager, New Business Development of Wipro Consumer Care, said that the market for honey in India is valued at Rs 160 crore (Rs 1.6 billion) and is growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 25 per cent.

"After carrying out a test launch in Maharashtra, we have introduced the product in Chennai, first in south, identifying the large consumer base for honey in Tamil Nadu.

The raw honey is being sourced from the Himalayas and Sunderbans. The processing and packaging are being done at Rajpura, Punjab," Arya said.

Apart from the regular flavour, Sanjeevani is available in lemon and ginger flavours also. Besides a 500 gram jar, the product is also available in 250 gram and 100 gram jars, with a shelf life of 24 months for regular honey and 12 months for the variants.

Commenting on the promotional activities, Paul Mathew, zonal manager, said that unlike Dabur, which is the market leader, Sanjeevani will not have any star endorsement.

"In our Hindi ads, we have made use of Paresh Rawal's voice. However, for the south, we plan to use the Tamil film director Visu's voice in the ad", he said.

Wipro consumer care has over 170 stockists and 40,000 outlets in the state and the company will soon introduce one-kilo jar of honey.

The group, which markets Glucovita, will soon be launching a badam flavour in Glucovita also, Arya added