MUMBAI:
Mitsui & Co. India Pvt. Ltd., has announced the official launch of Japan’s leading baby diaper brand ‘Merries’ in India. Merries is one of the three major brands of Japanese FMCG giant Kao Corporation, generating more than 1500 billion Yen in annual sales.
It is also the leading premium brand in the Japanese baby diaper market for 11 consecutive years in term of sales value share for tape and pants diapers. Mitsui & Co. India Pvt. Ltd. plans to tap into the growing potential of the Indian baby diaper market through Merries, which has been positioned as a premium baby diaper brand in the country.
The Merries product portfolio comprises of tape and pant diapers and skin care products. In India, Mitsui & Co. India Pvt. Ltd. has introduced the tape and pant diapers, which are retailing exclusively on Amazon (https://www.amazon.in/b?node=15329486031). The Merries tape and pant diaper’s unique strength is in its extreme gentleness to the baby’s skin.
Tape diapers come with a 3 Layer Air-Through System. The first layer comprises a light airy, wavy mesh which helps
reduce the skin contact area by half, expelling moisture and stuffiness through the gaps between the diaper and skin. The second is the absorbent layer, where the liquid is absorbed and the moisture is passed through. The third layer is entirely breathable drawing away moisture and heat from the liquid.
Pant diapers, on the other hand, are equipped with unique airy waist channels, which release the heat and moisture around the waist directly through the gap between the waist gathers and the skin. These technologies help protect the baby’s skin against moisture and heat thereby preventing diaper rashes. In addition, the Merries pant diaper of S and M sizes are 2.5 times more stretchable than the product itself, ensuring a perfect fit that is not too tight around the baby’s abdomen and can be easily put-on to babies.
The Indian diaper industry is currently pegged at about 4.6 billion pieces or US$ 800 million. The industry is expected to grow to about 10 billion pieces or US$ 1400 million by 2022. Increasing birth rate, higher disposable income, increased hygiene awareness and radical increase in the number of working women are factors driving this market growth. Over the years, the consumer’s mindset while purchasing diapers has also evolved. Initially, consumers focused on a diaper’s absorption capacity, but now are looking into other aspects as well like breathability and softness of the fabric.
Speaking about launching Merries in India, Hiromichi Yagi, Chairman & Managing Director of Mitsui & Co. India Pvt. Ltd. stated, “Kao Corporation is a market leader in manufacturing premium quality baby diapers in Asia and Merries is the most powerful product in their product portfolio. There is significant growth potential for us in India where the penetration rate of baby diapers is still below 6% despite approximately 25 million babies being born every year.
Presently the country is using 4.6 billion pieces of diapers as against its 80 billion potential. Through the launch of Merries we hope to provide a thrust to the current number.”
Elaborating on their distribution model and marketing strategies in India, Yagi added, “Currently, we are importing Merries from Japan to India, storing them at our warehouses and retailing them exclusively on Amazon. As part of our marketing efforts, we would be undertaking sampling activities for consumers to feel the quality of Merries.”
Apart from India now, Merries is sold across many countries including Japan, China, Indonesia and Russia.
The MRPs of Merries tape diapers for new born are INR 1099 (60 pieces) and INR 549 (24 pieces). The MRPs of Merries small sized pant diapers are Rs 1599 (62 pieces), medium Rs 1599 (58 pieces), large INR 1499 (44 pieces) and XL INR 1499 (38 pieces).
