Growing concerns over health and increasing awareness by customers in choosing the right product has given scope to manufacturers to get innovative about products to offer/ research. Trend analysts suggest that these innovations will continue to gain momentum in 2015, as consumers continue to seek magic bullet solutions for their health needs – the key for manufacturers is ensuring products are turned into sustainable trends and that consumers understand they need to be consumed in accordance with a balanced diet.
In India, similar to much of the other parts of Asia, focus is on geriatric population. Problems associated with the ageing population and chronic illnesses, metabolic syndrome including cardio vascular health are of focus. Anthem has developed potent anti-oxidants and Neurogenerator like PQQ and Ubiquinol.
In India, sugar management is an important issue, as India is known as the diabetic capital of the world. Keeping ageing population independent and active (both mentally and physically), is considered ‘healthy ageing’ and relentless effort is needed to meet this challenge, Anthem is working with products like Vitamine B 6 derivatives.
Fertility issues due to stress and hormonal imbalance has led Anthem to develop insulin sensitisers as dietary supplements. Disposable income is another factor that is the driving force behind innovative nutrition. More and more consumers are inclined towards prophylactic approach which helps in improving health standards.
In terms of product innovation and addressing any gaps in the market, the health and wellness category continues to be the one which is marching ahead. Innovations that are coming through are mostly related to refining of existing concepts. For example, folic acid and its related products have been around in the market for many years. However, there has been a turnaround in the way the product has been promoted with innovations in terms of bioavailability, improved mechanism to absorb this in the body, improving shelf life etc.
Food products are being reformulated and commercialised to meet new science-based recommendations for healthier products. Apart from conceptualisation of an idea to innovative marketing, the success of a product today depends on the strong area of innovation. The companies today are investing on skilled R&D personnel, demonstrating the efficacy of their innovation through clinical trial etc. Any company that centers its efforts on innovation, will need to necessarily invest heavily on manpower, money and time as well.
Anthem is proud to have a range of products which are the basis of such innovations and are uniquely positioned in nutrition for human and animals. The emphasis at Anthem is to capture the values of traditional nutrition food for human metabolism. Anthem offers L-Methylfolate, Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), Pyridoxamine, ResArgin (conjugate of Resveratrol and L-arginine) which are the result of strong innovation drive and unique offerings to consumers. Products are positioned distinctively, emphasising on enhanced biological values, shelf life and quality.
These innovations take centrestage in helping end users deal with various deficiencies which have come to light due to detailed studies in metabolism.
As stated earlier, the amount spent on innovation is on the rise across these sectors. At Anthem, we have dedicated team working on dietary supplements for applications specific to areas like pediatric, geriatric, gynecology, fertility, osteoarthritis, cardiology etc.
From conceptualisation to commercialisation, a product easily absorbs 2-3 years before it moves from R&D to manufacturing scale up, to passing tests in safety, stability, regulatory and finally hitting the market.There will be increasing focus in nutrition and consumers will continue to seek products for a variety of health and wellness concerns including maintenance, growth and repair functions of the body. Current lifestyle and demographic shifts opens up opportunities to tap these requirements.