Mumbai, July 26, 2024: Oral and personal care company Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd in FY 2023-2024 has focused on minimizing plastic waste and transitioned 50% of its toothpaste portfolio (by volume) to recyclable tubes, and is on track to exit FY 2024-25 with 100% recyclability, according to its third Annual & ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) report released on Friday.
Three of the company’s plants have attained net water positivity. The company has over 2.8 MW of on-site Solar installation, and Feasibility studies are being conducted for additional on-site solar installations. By 2030, the aim is to transition to 100% renewable electricity across all owned industrial site operations, it said.
The company has witnessed a significant step up in its growth trajectory with domestic growth of 9.5% and 26.4% PAT and EBITDA margins of 33.7%, historically the highest, according to the report.
This growth was driven by unrelenting focus on strategic pillars of growing the core while building category consumption, driving premiumisation in toothpaste, winning the battle for toothbrush and devices, and building the inherent strengths of Palmolive, the report said.
This report highlights the company’s financial performance and the significant strides made during the 2023-24 fiscal towards achieving the goals outlined in its Global 2025 Sustainability & Social Impact Strategy.
Prabha Narasimhan, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, shared, “At our core, is the mission to improve the oral health of everyone in India. This is both our fundamental responsibility and a tremendous privilege. Our long-term value creation strategy is intricately designed to balance financial performance with sustainability. The simple mantra of Grow, Strengthen, Simplify underpinned our actions in FY 2023-24. We delivered a significant step up in our growth trajectory, and we remain resolute in our commitment to enrich lives, foster sustainability, and propel positive change.”
Colgate-Palmolive (India) has built the ESG efforts on three core pillars of its S-MIL-E strategy: Driving Social Impact, Helping Millions of Homes, and Preserving the Environment. The Company is pursuing SMILE Based Targets to create enduring value, ensuring that the business thrives while contributing positively to the world, the report said.
Expressing her thoughts, Shilpashree Muniswamappa, Director - ESG & Communications, said, “Transforming environmental impact into a business driver—that's the aim of our SMILE-based sustainability targets. This report encapsulates our commitment to sustainability and ethical governance that not only supports our planet but also provides tangible benefits to our communities and stakeholders. We've adopted a comprehensive approach to tackling energy, emissions, waste, packaging, water and societal impact with a unified strategy.”
According to the report, the company’s focus on consistent innovation, building impactful brands, driving operational excellence, developing meaningful partnerships across the value chain, and making strategic investments have driven growth and profitability.
In FY 2023-24, the company relaunched three of its top products – Colgate Strong Teeth, Colgate Active Salt, and Colgate Total – with superior, science-backed formula. Colgate MaxFresh was also relaunched with the proprietary UltraFreeze technology and became the fastest-growing core brand in Colgate's portfolio in 2023.
"It focused on minimizing plastic waste and transitioned 50% of its toothpaste portfolio (by volume) to recyclable tubes, and is on track to exit FY 2024-25 with 100% recyclability," the report said.
Colgate-Palmolive also collected ~107% of plastic waste under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). All 4 of its industrial sites in India are TRUE® Zero Waste Platinum certified. In FY 2023-24, over 40 tonnes of dry waste was collected and segregated across 25 villages as part of the company’s CSR Rural Waste Management program, which saw over 30 tonnes of carbon emissions diverted and 300K watts of energy saved.
Over 5.2 million children across India have been reached through Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures® program – an in-school initiative that aims to improve the oral health of children. These children were spread across 10,000+ schools in over 150 cities and towns, and were taught about inculcating good oral care habits, awareness about tobacco prevention and good nutrition.
During 2023-24, Colgate-Palmolive extended digital and financial literacy to over 30,000 women and persons with disabilities (PwDs). In doing so, the company has now positively impacted over 60,000 beneficiaries across 240 villages, creating linkages to government policies worth INR 60 million.
The company supported 40 water-stressed villages, in repurposing 46 million litres of water, benefitting over 14,000 beneficiaries.
