• RENDEZVOUS
To cater to the increasing demands of fashion-conscious Nepalis, one of the leading Indian hair care brands Streax has been delivering a range of products to consumers here for the past two decades. In addition, the brand has been a key partner for Nepal's salon fraternity by continuously providing training and knowledge to salon professionals on a wide range of products, ever-changing trends, hairstyles, and colouring practices. The brand recently launched its latest collection called Mercurial. Sangay Sherpa of The Himalayan Times caught up with Abhishek Bhattacharya, international business head for Hygienic Research Institute Pvt Ltd (HRIPL), who is also responsible for Streax Professional / Professional Division portfolio in Nepal, to gain his insights into the country's hair care industry as well as the company's outlook and plans here. Excerpts:
Can you provide an overview of Streax Hair Colour and its products and plans targeted for the market and consumers here? Also, please give a brief on the current business status of Streax in the Nepali and global markets.
Our parent company is over 70 years old and is based in India. We have five factories which are all ISO certified and we are one of the leading brands in India and export markets in terms of hair colours and serums.
We have been in Nepal for the past 20 years as well as other markets and have established ourselves as a leading brand here as well.
Today we have a presence in more than 5,000 salons and 7,000 salons indirectly in the country. We also have a dedicated sales team of more than 30 people and technical staff of more than five people who visit salons, comprehend their problems, and teach them how to use different products as well as consult them on how they can maximise their business and earn more profits.
Today, if you go to any salon across Nepal, you will find Streax there. It has become a go-to brand and the best thing about Streax Professionals is that it has a quality like any other internationally renowned brand but is very affordable, making it a brand of choice for the salon fraternity as well as the consumers in Nepal.
What is the company's approach to product quality and safety, especially in terms of ingredients used in hair colour products?
Our manufacturing process is very robust and is all mechanised with very little human intervention. Our products are developed by the research and development team with distinguished scientists and technicians working on them.
We have collaborations with different international technical houses, with which Streax regularly holds discussions and takes ideas to bring in quality products.
Alongside quality as our hallmark, we are also known for providing them at the best price.
How has the economic slowdown in Nepal impacted the company's operations and strategies in the Nepali market? What are the key strategies being used by the company to overcome those hurdles?
The pandemic impacted everyone. Due to some turmoil in the country, the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) tightened trade policies which prevented importers from opening letters of credit due to depleting foreign exchange reserves in the previous year. We faced some gaps then but things have changed and are looking very positive. The government of Nepal has also taken initiatives to ease the situation and with increasing tourism arrivals and the forex situation, we see a favourable time in Nepal.
We have a robust team, of great importers and distributors who even during the COVID-19 pandemic did not allow for any gaps in the market. Nepal has passed through tough times but we have always been there as a brand for the Nepal fraternity and partners.
Alongside the delivery of products, one of the most important things associated with this industry including the salon fraternity is the education and training programmes conducted by Streax in the country. Streax Professional has also educated a lot of salon operators in Nepal throughout the years with trainings and classes being held every week. We are pioneers in the education of the salon fraternity and have been conducting mega shows where we bring in celebrity stylists from across the globe, who impart training to the salon fraternity of Nepal on the new styling trends and products.
This is a relationship that we have with the salon fraternity of Nepal and we consider every salon to be our brand ambassador as they are the ones who have direct contact with the consumers.
It's the salon fraternity and professionals who advertise our products through word-of-mouth and we consider them as partners of growth.
What are the company's future outlook and plans for growth in the Nepali hair care industry? Are there any upcoming product launches or initiatives tailored for Nepali consumers?
We are launching our new mercurial collection in Nepal which consists of different styles, cuts, and techniques, and presenting them to the salon fraternity of Nepal through renowned stylists. It's not a product but a set of styling and colouring of hairs using Streax Professional products. We are very hopeful that this mercurial collection will provide new fashion styles and trends to salon professionals and consumers.
We are also coming up with new edge fashion colours. Although they have already been launched, we are still working towards introducing more of their shades. We are also coming up with keratin which is a big thing in Nepal and other products with argan and walnuts in them which are good for the hair and skin.
We also hope to further expand our presence among the salon fraternity here, to teach as well as learn from them.
Do you have any key impressions and observations to share of the market here as well as in the country?
Nepali people are very fashion-conscious, more so than Indians and are very well-informed in terms of hair, skin and garments. I also think that the advent of e-commerce and social media has also played a huge role in Nepal, allowing consumers here to be very well-informed about the fashion trends going on in the international market.
As a result, it is the responsibility of brands like ours to provide quality products to our consumers in Nepal and across the region.
We have also developed a connection with the salon fraternity here and our goal is to continue providing education and training to take the industry to the next level. When we do so, it helps them as well as us to grow, which is a winwin situation.
A version of this article appears in the print on October 9, 2023, of The Himalayan Times
