With over 10 million hotel rooms supplied to date, Kronokare is looking to build new partnerships across hotels, boutique stays, resorts and wellness retreats while exploring international growth opportunities. Suraj Sheoran, Director, Kronokare, shares the vision behind the brand, its future plans and the markets that work best for the company.
-Srishti Mukherjee
What began as a French entrepreneur’s interest in skin and haircare, Kronokare as a brand has with time evolved to serve not just individual consumers but also the hospitality industry. Founded by Cyril Feuillebois in 2008, the brand blends Indo-French sensibilities with personal care and places a growing focus on responsible product development. The brand aims to operate the intersection of everyday self-care and the guest experience across its consumer range of haircare, skincare and wellness products and even amenities particularly designed for hotels and resorts.
It was all about bringing the French aesthetics into skincare. Suraj Sheoran, Director, Kronokare, shares that the vision behind the brand was to bring French skincare thinking together with a better understanding of Indian skin and climate. He added, “We wanted to create products that make sense for everyday life in India where heat, humidity and pollution call for a different approach. That practical thinking still shapes the brand today. The name comes from “chronos,” the Greek word for time. It reflects a simple belief that personal care should fit into people’s lives without becoming complicated or time consuming.
Current portfolio
Kronokare focuses on serving both individual consumers and business clients. Suraj shares, “Our consumer range covers face care, bath and body, hair care and wellness and is available through our website and online marketplaces. For the hospitality sector we supply hotels and resorts with hotel toiletries & guest amenities, refillable and non refillable dispensers, gifting sets and private label solutions. Our hospitality portfolio includes The Lalit Hotels & Resorts, The Grand Hyatt, Crescent Hotels & Resorts, Clarks Inn Suites, The Grand Dragon, Radisson Hotels, Pride Hotels, Chospa Hotels, Apollo Lifestyle and The Abduz along with many other hotels and resorts. We have supplied more than 10 million hotel rooms to date.”
Hospitality is an important part of Kronokare and Suraj states that the brand sees plenty of room to grow. He says, “We want to work with more hotel groups as well as independent and boutique properties that want their guest amenities to reflect the character of their hotel. Depending on the project we offer tailored fragrances, branding and suitable packaging options. We also work closely with clients to understand practical needs like housekeeping routines, storage and cost per room. Our aim is to offer a solution that works for the property and to build a relationship that lasts.”
Target Market
Talking about the categories of hotels that the brand is targeting in terms of MICE, heritage, corporate, FIT and others, Suraj highlights that the brand operates across the whole of the hospitality spectrum. “Corporate and MICE hotels need consistency and efficiency across a large number of rooms so we offer both refillable and non refillable dispensers. Boutique, leisure and heritage properties usually look for distinctive fragrances, branding and presentation and we customise accordingly. For hotels that want guests to take something home we also offer gifting sets and travel kits,” he adds.
Expansion is always a part of every brand’s future plans and so is the case with Kronokare. Suraj shares that the brand is preparing to expand beyond the existing categories of properties across national and international markets. He highlights, “In India we want to grow beyond the major city hotels and work with more properties in emerging cities and destination markets. This includes resorts, boutique stays and wellness retreats looking for guest amenities that suit their setting and guests.
Our wider amenities range including pillow mist, bath salt, bubble bath, lip balm and many others can be adapted to different needs. Internationally we hold EU certification and are already supplying to places like London, Nepal and Bhutan. This shows that our products meet the strict safety and quality standards that global hospitality brands expect and gives us a strong base to grow further. We want to approach international expansion thoughtfully and work with the right partners while keeping the quality and reliability our hospitality clients count on.”
With a strong presence in India’s hospitality sector, Kronokare is looking to build stronger on its experience whilst focusing on expanding its reach across emerging destinations and international markets. As the brand looks ahead, it aims to strengthen their existing partnerships and also forge new ones taking its Indo-French vision to a wider range of hospitality experiences that focus on customised amenities and practical solutions that reflect the brand’s understanding of the diverse needs of not just individual consumers but also the hospitality industry.
