Playtex CEO says to take time on intl growth

By Jessica Wohl

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Playtex Products Inc. PYX.N now has greater access to international expansion but is still going to take its time before entering new markets, the company's top executive said on Wednesday.

Buying the Hawaiian Tropic sun-care business in April gave Playtex more international exposure after being focused on North America. Playtex hopes to use that access to push products, such as its namesake tampons and baby-care items, into other countries.

"We have a priority program of where we want to expand," Neil DeFeo, its chairman, president and chief executive said at the Reuters Consumer and Retail Summit in New York. "We're certainly looking for countries where we can establish an infrastructure and where we think we have the capability to go into."

DeFeo declined to mention specific countries in the company's near-term plans, but did say Playtex has had discussions about entering India, a country where he has spent time.

"This is a country, in my judgment, that has more potential for the long term possibly than China."

Still, DeFeo noted, it will take time to get his company's products into the hands of consumers moving up the economic ladder, and not just because the items may be beyond their price range.

"I think the international opportunity for tampons is enormous, I do think it will take time, and I think there are cultural barriers, history and economic barriers to them," DeFeo said. "The population is vast, but the segment that can afford our products has to be targeted. It's not easy to target."

He also said that Playtex needs to work on recruiting and developing local talent to boost its international business.  Continued...