Oriflame India, the Indian arm of the £1.5 billion Swedish cosmetics ma­ker Oriflame, plans to add 350 new products this year and open more than 20 com­pany- owned new bra­nches in the next five years in India. The Nordic stock exchange-listed company also has plans to double its exports of products manufactured at its facility in Noida.

“We have grown 40 per cent year-on-year in the last five years and to cater to the growing Indian market, we will introduce 350 new products this year,” said Marcus Sandstrom, MD, Oriflame India.

The firm also will open more than 20 company-ow­ned new branches in the ne­xt five years to penetrate tier II and III cities, he said. Sa­ndstrom said beauty and pe­rsonal care market in India in 2010 was £5,409 million.

Oriflame sells a complete range of high quality skincare, personal and hair care, fragrances, colour cosmetics and accessories. At present, these products are sold through the firm’s own 13 branches in as many cities and 1.65 lakh consultants. Its major rivals include Avon, Mary Kay, Amway, and L’Oreal, among others.

“Our revenues are on the rise from the tier II and III cities and we want to tap these areas by spreading our footprint aggressively,” San­dstrom said. He said the fi­rm plans to expand its 270-service point Oriflame (SP­O) to 500 by the end of 2011. SPO’s are the minia­ture offices where consulta­nts collect products for sale.

Sandstrom said for the European’s largest cosmetics company, India was one of the top 10 countries in terms of growth. He said Asia contributed over 10 per cent of the company’s turnover of £1.5 billion in financial year December 2010 and India had a major share. “We are targeting to double exports of products in skincare, personal and hair care, and colour cosmetics manufactured at Noida facility within two years,” Sandstrom said.

“According to Indian Direct Selling Association, the country’s direct selling cosmetics market size last financial year was Rs 4,120 crore and growing at 15-20 per cent annually,” said Pra­dnya Deshpande, sales director, Oriflame India. “But we are targeting to grow 50 per cent in rapidly expanding markets like Pune, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur and Kolkata,” she said.

Sandstrom said due to robust business, the firm relocated their branches to bigger office space in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Jaipur. He said 60 per cent of the sales came from skincare and colour cosmetics and 40 per cent from personal and hair care, fragrances, and accessories.