Jean-Christophe Letellier, managing director of L’Oréal, India has admitted that Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali has shifted the focus to natural products. Letellier, who’s been heading the company’s India business, thinks that with better access to the internet, affordability, and the desire for better grooming, consumers in Asia’s third-largest economy are demanding more lip-colors, hair-colors, and anti-aging creams than before.
Letellier spoke to Quartz about many things including Indians’ love for natural products. He also said that more and more women are going to salons. “Makeup is the fastest-growing category in the personal care market.”
Talking about the rise in demand of natural products, he said, “Patanjali has found the right spot and developed the category. It has inspired a lot of “me-too” launches, but it shows that Indians are fundamentally attached to natural and herbal products. What does it mean to us? We are not trying to do ayurvedic products, but trying to bring science and nature together. Like, for instance, in Garnier. Or bringing “clay” into a hair product. It is true our natural launches have gone up…”
