Cashing in on the baby boom

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Corine de Farme plans to revamp its babycare line this year. and respond to demand for natural products,

The Middle East's infant care players are swerving their campaigns into maternity hospitals to forge links with mothers.

In May last year, French company Laboratoires Sarbec kicked off an innovative distribution strategy with a performance that would have made any Broadway producer proud.

The company's Corine de Farme baby shampoo formed part of a gift pack presented free of charge to 30,000 mothers and babies across all of the UAE's hospitals and clinics by organiser Care Direct Middle East under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Health.

"From May to November, the gift packs were distributed to mothers, containing important information, educational materials and quality products for newborn babies," explains Jean Paul Gilbert, export area manager, Middle East and CIS countries, Laboratoires Sarbec.

Designed to "sharply improve brand awareness among final consumers and retailers," the second six-month wave of activity started last month.

Laboratoires Sarbec operates three factories in France, another in Poland and distribution subsidiaries in Belgium, Portugal, Italy and the US. The company's trademark Corine de Farme first hit the UAE market since late 2001, and launched 35 SKUs in Carrefour the following year.

We fully extended our distribution in the UAE market to all of the significant retail chains, such as Spinneys, Géant, HyperPanda, Union Co-op, Sharjah Co-op, Abu Dhabi Co-op and Toys R Us," says Gilbert.

Dubai's Multiplex is exclusive distributor for Laboratoires Sarbec's baby care products in the UAE, Qatar and Oman, and Gilbert says its local partner has positioned Corine de Farme "as a significant challenger to key market players, such as Johnson & Johnson and Sebamed.

"Corine de Farme has become our strongest brand in the FMCG portfolio, and we are growing by 20% annually in the infant care category," says Vinod Adnani, managing director, Multiplex.

Intelligent marketing strategies have powered the brand to prominent positions across Kuwait, Egypt and Qatar, and Gilbert reveals the company plans to enter Iran and Saudi Arabia.

"The fact that our Corine de Farme brand has been successfully marketed at Carrefour stores since the end of 2001 in a merciless environment means our products really meet the consumers' expectations in terms of quality and price positioning.

This month Multiplex will launch four SKUs in Corine de Farme's complete range of 100% vegetal cold cream Baby and Nature, which is based on 95-98% of natural ingredients and free of preservatives such as parabens and phenoxyethanol.

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