•You will hear part of an interview between the commercial director of a paper company called SCA and Shubha Madhukar, the inter

F: What are SCA’s business plans in India?
M: We are going to launch two categories from the SCA company.  We are launching Turk, our away-from-home’ (AFH) tissues soon. The AFH market comprises hotels,  restaurants, caterers, hospitals and commercial health care centres. Tens, our incontinence care (adult diapers) brand will be launched in the next quarter.
F: As far as tissues are concerned, the Indian market is still in the nascent stage, how do you see your business growing?
M: We see that the economy is growing very fast. That means that the tissue market in India will be upgraded, that will also upgrade the hygiene level. F: What is the per capita consumption of tissues in India and what is it in US and Europe?
M: The consumption per capita, in India, is a fraction of what you see in Europe or the States. In the US, total per capita annual tissue consumption is 27 kg per person. In Sweden, it is 22 kg per person. In Germany, it is 15 kg per person. But in India, it is only 1.5 kg per person.   Even  China  has  a  per  capita consumption of 2.5kg per person!
F: So how important is India in the company’s scheme of business?
M: We strongly believe in this area and it is in this area where we can see the biggest scope at the moment for this kind of product. That is why we have started our brand shop here in Mumbai and also newly opened an office in Shanghai in China, to take care of the entire Asia-Pacific region.
F: Why the foray into India now: why not five years ago or two years ago?
M: We believe, after looking at a long third-party survey done during the last 10 years, that this would be the right time to come into India, owing to the fact that the economy here is moving  very  fast  at  the  moment.  Also, positively for the product categories which we are launching,  it is right time as attitudes towards hygiene products are changing.
F: What is the size of the Indian tissue market in value and volume?
M: For the AFH market, in terms of value, it is＄16,000,000 and the approx volume is 24,000 tonnes.
F: Who are your closest competitors?
M: In India too, as it is globally, our closest competitor is Kimberly Clark. Then, of course, there are quite a few local companies in India.
F: As we understand, SEA would be importing and marketing the products in India. From which locations will tissues be imported to India and how will the logistics work?
M: The tissues would be imported from various locations in Europe. The logistics are simple; it will be container loads from Europe direct to India.
F: What market share does SCA hope to capture in the first year and over a period of five years?
M: As much as possible. We believe that we should be able to grab a substantial part of the market, of course. We are the market leader in Europe and number three in the world. We will target the number one or two position in India as well, but not in the first year. It will be a long-term effort.