ITC to take stationery brands abroad - DNA
January 20, 2009
ITC Ltd is likely to take some its education and stationery products overseas. It has two umbrella brands --Classmate and Paperkraft. ITC sells notebooks, copier and printer paper, writing instruments and scholastic products under these brands.
Chand Das, CEO, education & stationery products business, ITC, foresees stiff competition from China and Indonesia. "We need to build the brand first... otherwise it becomes commodified exports and we do not want that," he added.
In the domestic market, ITC is looking at imports of writing instruments and scholastic products from China and Malaysia. It recently launched "Paperkraft Premium Business Paper" an environment-friendly paper that uses the Green ozone-treated elemental chlorine-free technology.
ITC's education & stationery products business is a reinvention of its earlier greeting cards and gifting division. Das said the exit from greeting cards last year was necessary because it was a declining business.
Consumer spend on education and stationery products is about Rs 9,000 crore per annum. Of this, notebooks account for a third and ITC's share in this space is 10%.
