NEW DELHI, Mar 4: French firm Groupe SEB, which owns Maharaja Whiteline, plans to take the homegrown appliances brand to the international markets within a year, a top company official said.
It would introduce products under the Maharaja Whiteline brand in countries where the Indian diaspora is present in large numbers, among others.
“We are now thinking about exports,” Groupe SEB India VP Marketing Florence Tardy said.
On being asked about the timeline, she said:” This would happen in next one financial year, which is 12 months.”
Groupe SEB has a strong base in the Middle East and introduction of Maharaja Whiteline would make sense there, she added.
“Maharaja Whiteline has very good recall among Indians and our research shows that we can have a very good business in Middle East, Africa and most of the SAARC countries,” Groupe SEB India CFO Vikas Lal said, adding “We are exploring specific products for specific countries.”
As per its strategy, Groupe SEB has put Maharaja Whiteline in the ‘value for money brand’ segment and Tefal in the premium range, catering to the top 13 cities here.
The company reported a turnover of Rs 240 crore in India last fiscal, in which Tefal contributed around 20 per cent.
Groupe SEB, which acquired Maharaja Whiteline in 2014, has also refurbished its product range.
“We are focusing now to bring a new set of range, products and new SKUs (stock keeping units) within the same range. Now you can see a lot of refreshed SKUs with more features and better quality put in the system,” Groupe SEB India CFO Vikas Lal said.
Post acquisition, it has strengthened its portfolio of air coolers and entered segments like water heaters and room heaters.
The group has a manufacturing unit in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh.
Groupe SEB is a leading manufacturer of small domestic equipment and operates in 150 countries. (PTI)
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