Tooth-powder (Down 16 Per Cent)

Before you ask what it is, toothpowder is a mildly abrasive powder that is used in combination with, or without, a toothbrush to maintain oral hygiene. In India, these include brands like Vicco Vajradanti and Dabur's Lal Dant Manjan. This is another category that has kept falling, and falling.

A major factor is that, over the years, toothpaste has become cheaper. Today, toothpaste is available in the most affordable packs of as low as `5. People have made the gradual move from old-style datoon (stick of Neem) to toothpowder to toothpaste.

Explains Ramanathan of KPMG Advisory Services, "The relevance of a category such as toothpowder is under a cloud of uncertainty what with aggressive expansion in the related substitutes category from both a packaging and pricing perspective."

According to Arora of Five by Six Consulting, for long, the toothpowder category has had a pronounced skew in terms of being limited to a few states. "Toothpaste is the modern dentifrice option, driven by availability deeper and deeper into the hinterland. The increasing presence of affordable toothpastes options over the last 10-12 years (Colgate Cibaca, Babool and Anchor) has hastened this decline," she points out.

To read about other categories, click here.