Industry leaders share their views on the growth path for the Indian nutra market in 2015

industry-leaders-share-their-views-on-the-growth-path-for-the-indian-nutra-market-in-2015

India’s future in nutraceuticals industry looks promising – Arjun Juneja, Director, Mankind Pharma

The Indian nutraceuticals market which has grown from $ one billion in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2013 is likely to cross $ 1.5 billion in 2014 and is expected to top $ 4 billion by 2018.There has been an increasing awareness among the rising affluent middle class about health and wellness. Nearly 400 million people in India belong to the middle class and have disposable income which has made them capable of buying nutraceuticals and dietary supplements. It is an inevitable fact that affluence is one of the causes of lifestyle diseases, which nutraceuticals and dietary supplements often address. These factors will support the double digit growth of the industry in the coming few years.

Dietary supplements are the largest category accounting for 64% of the nutraceuticals market, driven primarily by the pharmaceutical sector in the form of vitamin and mineral supplements. Functional foods will be the quickest growing category until 2015 followed by dietary supplements.

The need for product innovation and research makes the nutraceutical industry a very interesting place to be. Currently, it is split into two main segments: functional foods and dietary supplements. From a global perspective, functional foods already lead in terms of market share and are expected to grow. Nevertheless, dietary supplements are projected to grow at the faster rate through 2017.

Most of the leading pharmaceuticals companies have ventured into nutrition and nutraceuticals space and have a growing portfolio of such products which targets various therapeutic segments. This trend is increasingly on the rise and will continue to grow to a large extent in turn adding to the growth of the nutraceuticals industry.

In India, functional foods are expected to see increased consumption over the next five years resulting in functional foods and beverages garnering greater product share in the market as opposed to dietary supplements. In each product segment, manufacturers can expect a minor shift in consumption, driven by the demand for new and improved product as well their health claims. Interestingly, in the Indian market, the consumption of supplements promises huge potential to nutraceutical product manufacturers, through customization of their products to include natural and herbal ingredients.

Overall, the Indian nutraceutical market is emerging with strong growth potential. With increasing health awareness, and the shift towards preventative health care and increased regulatory clarity, India’s future in nutraceuticals industry looks promising, for both manufacturers and consumers. However, there is a strong need of developing customized products, affordable pricing and distribution strategy.

Pharma sector to drive nutraceuticals – Dr R K Sanghavi, Consultant– Healthcare NeuroMarketing & Regulatory and Specialist– Nutraceuticals & Health Supplements & Functional Foods

The nutraceutical market of India is a mere 2% of the global market. The penetration in urban India todays stands at 22.5% but it spirals down to mere 6.3% in rural areas!

However, despite its small base, India’s growth of nutraceuticals is in double digits – around 10% and this is significantly more than the global surge of 7%. All this is a strong indicator of proliferation of nutraceuticals in India and its acceptance by the Indian consumer, and maybe healthcare providers. Driven by Pharma sector, propelled by the medical professionals, and the dawn of new era of specific science-based appropriate regulations the nutraceuticals are all set to surge ahead.

Distribution channels to play an imperative role in the future growth of nutraceutical business – Ajay Khanna, Vice President & Country head, Herbalife International India

Indian consumers are becoming very conscious towards fitness and better health which provides a great opportunity for the dietary supplements, sports nutrition and weight management products. The nutraceutical market has been growing at the compound annual growth rate of 20% for the last three years.

According to a Frost & Sullivan analysis, functional foods will be the quickest growing category. With the penetration of lifestyle trends in rural parts of India we see a trend of growing conscious for a healthy life in Tier II and Tier III markets. Consumers in urban India due to their fast-paced lifestyles and westernized eating habits are expected to shift towards supplements in order to replenish their daily diets with the necessary vitamins and dietary supplements.

Increasing food security concerns in India and need for additional nutrition, has resulted in vitamin fortification initiatives as well as pharmaceutical and FMCG giants looking to penetrate the Indian Nutraceutical Market. India has huge potential in this segment which is boosting multinational companies to set up their production facilities. However it will only be the distribution channels that will play an imperative role in the future growth of business. The Government of India is trying to bring in friendlier norms for the industry.

Nutraceutical industry is here to stay and grow multifold – P J Kunjachan, Chairman and Managing Director, Arjuna Natural Extracts

Nutraceutical Industry is keen on experiencing a very happy new year with 2015. While the year 2014 saw many promising customer trends in the market, the year 2015 will remain an extension to the continuing trend.

We hope to see the year also bring in responsiveness from our government in clearing pending product approvals applications and implementing a robust system thereby widening the market to competent domestic and international brands. The Nutraceutical industry by no doubt is here to stay and grow multifold and 2015 will certainly witness that.

Online marketing for nutra products to see an exponential rise – Sameer Maheshwari, Managing Director & Co-Founder, HealthKart.com

The future of online marketing for nutrition and nutraceuticals will see an exponential rise in 2015, seeing the market growth which is supported by rise in internet penetration as well as growing consciousness about health. All categories will grow online, but certain segments, such as sports nutrition, the online penetration will become as high as 50%.

2015 – Peak year for nutrition bar industry – Vijay Uttarwar, Founder & CEO, Naturell India

I would rightly call 2014 as the year of ‘category development’ when we speak of the Nutrition Bar industry in India. The sales have shown a considerable growth and it is the category which has witnessed good acceptance among the consumers.

I look forward to 2015 as the peak year for nutrition bar industry. The category is catching attention not only among the consumers but also among Indians companies and giant corporates who are now willing to invest in this industry. Various international markets are also investing in the Indian market following the growing popularity of nutrition bars. The marketing focus for 2015 will be product innovation as well as targeting towards wider health conscious audience and take advantage of the growing familiarity of this category. With the current scenario, it won’t be long when the market crosses the `100 crore mark.

Companies need to understand consumers’ behavior for effective reach- Nikhil Vaz, Director – Nutraceutical Business Unit, Sanofi India Ltd

While 2014 witnessed a slow-down in new product introductions as compared to prior years perhaps due to the ambiguity surrounding product approvals, it was also the year in which companies’ explored alternate ways to reach the end consumer (using print and social media, digital, etc).

Going forward, it will become imperative for companies in this space to understand better the needs and behavior of consumers or patients prior to introducing new products or developing alternate channels to reach or service them. The sooner companies realize this, the more consumer-centric will their solutions be.

Top pharmas are looking at nutraceuticals for future growth – T L Suresh, Business Head – Zenith & Zera SBU, Pharmaceutical Division, The Himalaya Drug Company

IMS Health has acknowledged that top 30 pharmaceutical companies in India are looking at nutraceuticals as an avenue for future growth. This is a reflection of increased awareness of health and wellbeing among consumers. Consumers, today, are embracing a more proactive and preventive approach to health and wellbeing. This presents numerous opportunities for the industry to develop products which meet the needs of the discerning consumer. The industry needs to promote health as an integral part of lifestyle.

Companies to add new nutra ingredients to product list – Parth Patel, Head- Online Sales, West-Coast Pharmaceuticals Works

2014 has been a great year for the industry. We have seen many new products and companies in the market. Overall industry growth and revenues has increased phenomenally. For the upcoming year I think many new companies will be coming up. MNCs have already lined up super speciality nutrition supplements which they are planning to launch this year.

For 2015 many companies or importers will be adding new nutraceutical ingredients in their product list to carter the untapped market. To conclude this I think we will share more product, more companies, more competition and more growth as compared to previous year.

Industry hopeful of a faster resolution to the pending regulatory issues – George Kuriakose, VP – Marketing, Bio-gen Extracts

The Nutraceutical Industry is definitely upbeat and positive about the prospects for the year 2015. It has been growing consistently above 15% for the past few years and is on course to repeat if not better the performance in 2015.

The positive sentiment in the Indian economy with a change of guard at the Centre will go a long way in boosting investor confidence. The industry is also very hopeful of a faster resolution to the long pending regulatory issues to give the much needed impetus to the Nutraceutical industry.

The major growth factors in the Indian scenario continue to be the steady increase in the awareness among the affluent middle class about preventive health care and wellness coupled with increased purchasing power due to the rise in disposable incomes. Moreover the steep increase in lifestyle diseases like diabetes and hypertension has led more and more of this newly created enlightened middle class to look for safer and natural alternatives. There has been a perceptible shift to preventive health care giving a further fillip to Nutraceuticals.

With all the major Pharmaceutical companies looking at the Nutraceutical segment as growth drivers for the future, the Indian Nutraceutical Industry is definitely bound to reap the benefits. In addition, the food and beverages majors are looking at functional foods with renewed interest to fortify their existing product lines and to develop new product pipelines to introduce foods and beverages with label claims for functional benefits. Sports nutrition, Immunity boosters, Cognitive health, gut health, pain relief, antioxidants, weight management, Probiotics are the segments of interest.

Scientific works on Indian medicinal plants helping the growth – Anurag Agarwal, Managing director, Natural Remedies

We have seen a fair growth for the botanical dietary ingredients in the form of standardized herbal extracts in the year 2014, as far as exports to the developed countries is concerned. It appears in line with the trend for increased interest in natural products worldwide, as per the market surveys. Health benefits offered by some of the important Indian medicinal and culinary plants like Ashwagandha and Turmeric are catching the imagination of western population. Scientific works being carried out by academia and industry on Indian medicinal plants is also helping in this cause while we still have a long way to go in catching up with the Chinese. Lack of harmonized and well defined global regulatory framework for botanical products is a major challenge envisaged in sustaining the growth story.

Regulators to establish strict but affordable testing protocols – Jayant Dharma, Marketing Leader-EH, PerkinElmer (India)

The Food and Drug Administrations are trying to establish strict but affordable testing protocols to make the consumption of Nutraceuticals much safer. The major ingredients are elemental detection of heavy metals which require proper digestion methodology and modern analytical instrument like ICPMS as per USP <232/233> or California Prop 65 norms. In the coming year we can see more quality awareness for Nutraceuticals and competitive quality for the export as well as for domestic consumption.

Industry is expected to emerge as a strong market – Suman Dabas, Principal Consultant, Food Services & Agriculture, Technopak

Indian nutraceuticals market comprising 2% of global market share is expected to grow at 15%-20% in the next five years. The segments that will see growth in the near future are sports nutrition products, dietary supplements and weight loss products. We also see huge potential in the nutraceutical products that use herbal ingredients or are based on Ayurvedic prescriptions, eg. Chayawanprash. The products in this segment have huge potential if they are marketed effectively. People born during 1950s to 1970s are potential consumers of nutraceutical products to maintain quality of life and avoid / manage increasing incidence of lifestyle diseases. To sum up; the industry is currently at a nascent stage, but is expected to emerge as a strong market by the next decade.

Focus on Intellectual Property to sustain industry growth – Shaheen Majeed, Marketing Director, Sabinsa Corporation

As 2014 ends two of the main issues on our minds are still very much present: the controversy around bioavailability and combating the theft of Intellectual Property. Both are pivotal issues in the sustainability of the industry.

IP infringement continues to be a problem, but we’re seeing more manufacturers address it directly. While Sabinsa takes legal action when we have to, we’ve also developed some new ways of protecting our unique products, which will be introduced early in 2015, that we believe will have significant impact

Consumers shifting focus towards meeting nutritional needs – Amit Chopra, Managing Director -India, Thermo Fisher Scientific

The Nutraceutical ingredient market is growing, with increased health awareness and growing health concerns, and increasing demand for healthy food, personal care products and safe nutrition products. Increasing aging population and rising incidence of chronic diseases and changing lifestyle are the major factors that drive the global nutraceutical ingredients market. Consumers are shifting their focus towards meeting nutritional needs.
While nature provides the source for many dietary supplements and nutraceuticals, there is still a lot to be learned about these diverse compounds. Analytical instruments with cutting edge technologies like High Resolution Accurate Mass (HRAM) based Liquid Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS), Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and the innovative Isotope Ratio Mass Spectometry (IR-MS) supported by advanced and high throughput sample preparation such as the Automated Solvent Extraction (ASE), routine LC and qPCRs allow accurate and high throughput extraction, quantification and identification of these complex natural products.
One can foresee more stringent regulations being developed and implemented for nutraceuticals and functional food on the lines of FDA regulations and cGMP guidelines for the pharmaceuticals industry. These developments will require rigorous manufacturing and QA/QC protocols and will be an opportunity for the analytical instruments industry to strengthen our partnership with this industry.

Nutraceuticals beginning to dominate preventive health market- KV Venugopalan, President, Indian Analytical Instruments Association (IAIA) and President, Waters India

With increasing health awareness and the shift towards preventative health care, India’s future in Nutraceuticals industry looks promising. Nutraceuticals could complement drugs and can reduce over-dependence on medicines for treatment. With the growing popularity of these supplemented foods, many multinationals are investing in the Nutraceuticals market in India. India has a tradition of herbal medicines which is thousands of years old and with our biodiversity India could become a world leader in Nutraceutical market. As Nutraceuticals are beginning to dominate the preventive health market, there is a growing need to address their usefulness and safety based on scientific research. There is also a strong need of developing customized products, affordable pricing and distribution strategy for sustaining the continued growth in this segment.
As on date the requisite techno legal regulatory framework for dietary and health supplement, functional food and Nutraceutical segments is missing. A large number of Nutraceutical manufacturers are adversely affected by the uncertain regulatory regime in India. Pharma companies dominate the Nutraceutical industry currently and they are likely to continue due to this lack of clarity. Since Nutraceuticals are categorized as either foods or drugs there are also issues related to pricing and quality controls. As the industry is developing rapidly and its requirements are seen as being unique, it is necessary to have regulations that are Nutraceutical industry specific. FSSAI is already working towards standardisation and their announcement is being eagerly awaited by the Nutraceutical industry.

Sector continues to enjoy its growth cycle- VG Nair, CEO, Sami Labs

In a challenging environment, the nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals industry reported its yet another good year in 2014, in terms of revenues and operating profits. Prospects continue to be bright for the industry. The sector continues to enjoy its growth cycle — and there are no signs of a slowdown.

Nutra market is becoming highly competitive – Azaz Motiwala, Founder & Chairman and Managing Director, IKON Marketing Consultants

In 2014, overall, the Indian nutraceuticals industry has shown strong growth potential. With escalating health awareness, the shift toward preventative health care and increased regulatory clarity, India’s nutraceutical industry remained promising for both manufactures and consumers. Currently functional food enjoys largest share of the Indian nutraceuticals market followed by dietary supplements. This trend will drive the market for fortified foods and pro-biotic. With the rise of lifestyle related diseases in urban India, the nutraceuticals products going to remain in high demand. However still the market is fragmented and becoming highly competitive with the players including domestic and MNCs pharmaceuticals companies, Food & Beverage and FMCG companies.

Collaboration to mark beginning of a new era for Nutraceuticals – Anil Joshi, CEO, GCV Life

We hope year 2015 will mark the beginning of a new era for Nutraceuticals in India! This will be possible through effective collaboration between industry and regulators leaving behind the bitterness of 2014. India’s vast bio-diversity and treasure trove of knowledge now needs leadership in Industry and Governance. Industry needs to launch innovative and affordable products, while laying down stringent standards for itself in quality and Intellectual Property protection. Government needs to facilitate and enable while protecting consumer interests.

Ageing population supporting the nutra growth – Dr Vivek Srivastav, Chief Scientific Officer, Zeon Lifesciences

We may look forward towards establishment of scientific assessment of nutraceuticals and dietary supplement for prevention of disease by human trials and establishment of seamless system to transfer stage from basic research to industrialization. Market trends are really encouraging which shows Nutraceutical Ingredient Market by type (Probiotics, Proteins, Plant Extracts, Minerals, Vitamins, Fibers, Carotenoids & Others) by application (Functional Foods & Beverages, Supplements, Animal Nutrition, Personal Care), the Nutraceutical ingredient market is estimated to grow from $ 23.8 billion in 2013 to $ 33.6 billion in 2018 with a CAGR of 7.2% from 2013 to 2018. Market reports and study predicts the world market for functional foods will reach $ 241.25 billion in 2015. Market growth has been supported by a significant increase in the world’s ageing population as well as growing consciousness of health and wellness across the globe. Not only does naturally functional remain the biggest trend, it is growing in importance every year and has become the key driver of innovation in health.

Remain optimistic that 2015 shall usher in the much needed change – Piyush Rathi, Director & Chief Marketing Officer, Advanced Enzyme Technologies

At beginning of 2014 we were quite optimistic as we were expecting the new regime to bring about positive changes in support of the industry, as it is still in its infancy here in India. However, so far, we are yet to see any positive and constructive changes being made to the regulatory architecture of our country. When it comes to Dietary Supplements, we observe that such products are simply not on the regulators’ priority list. In spite of providing extensive documentation with regard to product safety and decades of safe use globally, approvals on Dietary Supplements remain elusive.
As we see it, nothing in the regulatory architecture of our country is conducive to the growth of the Nutraceuticals and Dietary Supplements industry. We remain hopeful that 2015 shall usher in this much needed change.

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