In India, household supplies and cleaners are seeing a spurt in growth. Increasing household budgets have allowed for new categories to enter the household. Indian housewives are now open to spend incrementally on specialty cleaning products. Over decades ago, Indian consumers used to wash utensils with laundry detergents. Then detergent specially designed to clean the dishes were launched. However, it was only after dishwashing bars launch that this category started growing intensely.


According to recently published report of Bonafide Research “India Utensil Cleaner Market Outlook, 2021”, utensil cleaners are growing with more than 15% CAGR from last five years. Among all the product types, liquid cleaners are the fastest growing segment. The convenience offered by the liquid format and the reduction in wastage as compared with the bar format made the former a popular choice, especially in urban households. Urban consumers are rapidly shifting towards liquid since it offers more economy and convenience. Apart from urban consumers, rural markets are also expected to outperform as rural consumers are evolving towards a broader notion of value which involves aspects of price combined with utility, aesthetics and features, and not just low prices.


The dish washing liquid was first introduced to India in 1999 by Henkel in the form of Pril, which is now taken up by Jyothy Laboratories. The other major brands who were subsequently introduced to the market were Vim, Exo, Xpert and recently Dettol. HUL's Vim faces intense competition from Jyothy Laboratories in the form of Pril and Reckitt & Benckiser in the form of Dettol, both of which have strong brand equity due to the long presence of the brands in the Indian market. War between HUL and Reckitt Benckiser, over Vim and Dettol, is set to create a stir in the low involvement category like dishwashing.


Dishwashing liquids are targeted mostly at urban upper middle class home makers and here the users are home maids rather than home makers. It was difficult to teach house maids to use the liquid efficiently. Moreover, as liquid products were expensive, home makers were reluctant to give it to maid servants to use. Manufacturers realized this problem and started targeting the maids as they are influencer like a mechanic for car spare parts. According to Anita Patil, Sr. Research Analyst at Bonafide Research, "There is high sale of 400 ml liquid cleaners in first week as compared to rest of weeks, as the wife has disposable income at the start of the month. Subsequently she may go for 200 or 100 ml as per the requirement. Hence, different packaging size is also contributing the category to expand." Refill packs are also available in the market which permits the repeated use of the actual container simply by refilling the contents.