Rani celebrates 70 years as Queen of Sri Lankan beauty

Rani Sandalwood, Sri Lanka’s pioneering and perennial beauty soap brand has acquired a new look in its packaging to mark its milestone 70th anniversary in the personal care market.

Manufacturer Swadeshi Industrial Works said the heritage brand retains the herbal goodness that has underpinned its leadership of the Sandalwood Soap category over seven decades, but has been given a contemporary look to attract a new generation of users.

The first branded beauty soap manufactured in Sri Lanka, ‘Rani Sandalwood’ commenced manufacture in 1941 at the Swadeshi Industrial Works, and became a household name soon after it was introduced to the market, the company said.

Commenting on the brand’s enduring popularity, a spokesperson for Swadeshi said: “The fact that Rani still remains the market leader in the Sandalowood beauty soap category reflects our continuing efforts to maintain the finest quality in the product and the trust of the consumers.”

The brand is recognised for its quality and the natural goodness in several international markets as well, she said.

Swadeshi has also launched a new TV commercial to mark the 70th anniversary of Rani.

Rani is the first soap to use Sandalwood, a traditional herbal beauty secret of Asian women for centuries, as its main ingredient. Sandalwood is commonly found growing at an altitude of 4500 feet in India and Sri Lanka, and has been known to be a skin freshener for many centuries. Sandalwood helps to smoothen and soften skin, leaving it healthy, radiant and odour free.

The popularity of the Rani beauty soap product has led to the expansion of the range to include ‘Rani White Sandalwood,’ a white sandalwood soap enriched with Vitamin E and moisturiser, Rani Sandalwood Shower Gel and Rani White Sandal Shower Gel. Rani soap is also now available for consumers in a four-in-one economy pack.

Bearing the heritage brand status of the original classic Sandalwood, all products bearing the Rani name in today’s market maintained the promise of offering the secret of beauty therapy, which has an oriental legacy of over 1000 years, the company said.

Over the years, the Rani brand has been associated with the championing of female beauty. Rani has sponsored the Miss. Ceylon and Miss. Sri Lanka beauty pageants, from the 1960s to the 1980s.

As a company, The Swadeshi Industrial Works Plc has made rapid progress by constantly upgrading its manufacturing process, investing in new technology and infrastructure. Today Swadeshi operates a large modern factory equipped with-the latest soap finishing equipment, resulting in very high quality finished soaps and personal care products.

With a strong focus on innovation and quality, Swadeshi has invested heavily on Research and Development facilities and also boasts of one of the best laboratories in the country for testing personal care products.

The company says it uses the best quality raw materials, pure herbal ingredients and superior fragrances from internationally renowned perfumes for the manufacture of its products.

Swadeshi recently received the prestigious ISO 9001:2008 International Quality Management Certification from the Sri Lanka Standards Institute (SLSI) for the company’s quality management systems.

The company has many firsts in the industry to its credit, including the first herbal beauty soap and shower gel (Khomba), the first herbal baby soap and baby care range under the Khomba Baby label and a herbal shampoo range under the brand Khomba.

The brand portfolio of Swadeshi also includes the ‘Apsara Venivel,’ ‘Perlwite,’ ‘Lak Bar,’ ‘Lady’ (Perfume) and ‘Black Eagle’ (Perfume and After Shave) brands.