Consumer goods company, PZ Cussons East Africa has started doubling down on its investment in production, distribution, innovation, and placing greater emphasis on the younger Generation Z and Millennials aged below 35 in what would see it invest Sh150 million over the next one year.
The firm’s move responds to rapid evolution in consumer behaviour in its personal care category, where younger shoppers experiment more, demand a wider range of scents and formats, and adopt new brands and innovations faster than older cohorts. This redirection also follows factors such as changing market tastes, channel redesign, and portfolio refocusing.
“Our research shows that consumers in this region under 35 years are adventurous with fragrance and personal care, consistently stretching their imagination and experimentation with new formats, favouring bold, differentiated scents, and buying across online and modern retail channels,” PS Cussons EA Managing Director Sekar Ramamoorthy, says.
According to Ramamoorthy, Kenya’s beauty and personal-care market is estimated at Sh20 billion and shows a steady high-single-digit growth rate. He says these are the demand dynamics that make investment in growth sensible, adding that they comprise more than a third to nearly one half (35 percent to 45 percent of personal-care spend in urban/modern-trade channels.
“The category we play in is increasingly becoming more nuanced, with differentiation leaning towards niche markets. We are opting to go for broader sections of the population, having recognized that they have more in common,” he says, noting that PZ Cussons intends to grow here in Kenya and has no plans to divest from the local market.
