“We look forward to growth of more than 30%”

At the recently held 4th National Symposium titled ‘Nutraceuticals: Functional Foods, Dietary Supplements and Natural Medicines’, organized by ASSOCHAM, Tirupati Group- Nutraceutical division  received the Best Nutraceuticals Manufacturing Company award. With deep routed knowledge from manufacturing and marketing of Pharmaceuticals, Nutraceutical and Ayurveda products, Ashok Goyal, Director, Tirupati group is moving on a fast track and achieving the targeted growth of the company gradually. NuFFooDS Spectrum interacted with Ashok Goyal to get more insights about the company and the plans ahead. Edited Excerpts-

 

Please share some details about Tirupati Group and its business verticals.

 

Tirupati group started its manufacturing operations a decade back in 2005, from a small town in HP, Paonta sahib and then went on to add more and more units in 2007, 2010, 2014 and 2017 with names Tirupati Medicare Ltd, Tirupati Lifesciences, Tirupati Ayurveda and Tirupati wellness LLP respectively.

Tirupati has namely six verticals Nutraceuticals, Ayurveda, Pharmaceuticals, Sports nutrition, Oxxum and Research. Tirupati is just not a contract manufacturing company but provide end to end solutions from research to final commercial launch and has its presence in B2C segments through its own brand Proburst in sports nutrition and Oxxum in pharma.

The company has a turnover of Rs 500 crores and 69 per cent of which comes from the Nutraceuticals vertical.

Tirupati Research and Development Centre (TRDC) was established in 2014. The research Centre has been certified by DSIR (Department of Science Industrial Research, New Delhi, India). The Research Centre is equipped with sophisticated equipment and Research Team. The team has developed approximately 200 products and follows regulatory compliances of FSSAI and FDA. Our R&D strategy is to continue reinforcing therapeutic and other areas where we are already strong, while exploring and expanding across newer areas that we believe are set for innovation. Quality has been the cornerstone for Tirupati Group as it has always endeavoured to deliver services with a mark of excellence. We are equipped with a highly accomplished R&D facility managed by knowledgeable and dedicated scientists; assuring product quality assessment during product shelf life. Tirupati group has total 2350 total no. of employees and is presently serving more than 270 clients. The company has more than 1400 SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) in offering.

 

Which are the key products being manufactured under the Nutraceuticals category at Tirupati Group –Nutraceutical division?

 

Tirupati group –Nutraceutical Division has two units i.e. Tirupati Lifesciences and Tirupati Wellness and both these units cover product categories- Nutraceuticals, Health Supplements, FSDU (Food For Special Dietary Use), FSMP (Food for Special Medical Purposes), Functional Foods, Sport Nutrition’s, Prebiotics, Probiotics and Proprietary Food Products. The products are manufactured in diverse dosage land forms like powder, tablets, capsules, granules & Liquid, Oils and Ointments. It covers complete range of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and caters to wide spectrum of customers ranging from MNCs to large domestic manufacturers.

 

What are the current trends industry is capitalizing upon for growth in the Nutraceuticals sector?

 

India is witness to a spate of changes in lifestyles and rise in lifestyle diseases like Diabetes, blood pressure, obesity, cardio-vascular problems among others, which has increased the demand for supplements among the upper and middle class. In such a scenario, Nutraceuticals intake is growing in popularity as consumers are looking for products to boost energy and enhance physical perseverance, mental sharpness and to be more dynamic and attractive. Dietary supplements in the form of tablets, capsules, powders, liquids, soft caps and soft gels are available and market for these products is continuously increasing.

The global Nutraceuticals market is expected to reach $578.23 billion by 2025 at CAGR of 8.8 per cent, the rising health issues may drive demand for products for the next eight years.

The Indian Nutraceuticals market is estimated at around $ 4 Billion in 2017 and is expected to grow at a significant 21 per cent CAGR to $10 Billion in 2022. This will likely be fueled by a significant 25 per cent per annum growth in Functional Beverages market accompanied by similar potential growth from the other segments. More than 60 per cent of this market is accounted for by Dietary supplements. Few industries in India today offer such spectacular growth potential.

 

How is Tirupati Group –Nutraceutical Division contributing to the growing sports nutrition market in India?

 

Tirupati Group Nutraceutical Division has an art of state facility for the manufacturing of sports nutrition products with a wide range of amino acids like general functional proteins to performance proteins under the brand name “Proburst”. In the last one year, the brand has grown significantly and is standing in elite list of top 5 brands in India. Our manufacturing facility is also leveraged by many MNCs like Glanbia, QNT, Herbalife and Abbott.

 

What are your views on personalized nutrition as the upcoming industry trend? How does Tirupati Group –Nutraceutical Division intend to cater to that?

 

The millennials are averse to taking medicine pill and are conscious of their health, however due to life style changes, fast pace life and focus on wellness instead of sickness the generation is fast inclining towards prevention instead of cure. Hence, they prefer to take food supplements instead of medicines. US, Europe and Japan are today mature industry while India is yet emerging under their shadow. The growth rate globally is about 8 per cent while India is fast growing at 21 per cent due to new emerging segment of millennials.

Tirupati has large capacity available and using its strategy to increase market size by supporting MNCs and also have its own brand Proburst. It helps capturing the market being an early mover and being present is both B2B and B2C segments.

 

What are the main challenges or issues being faced by the industry and the company?

 

Nutraceuticals industry is a very fast-growing industry, under the umbrella of FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India). There are some challenges in front of industry pertaining to the regulations, markets, research, specifications. These  challenges are being  taken with authority through  our  industrial forum  ( ASSOCHAM, CII & FICCI) time  to time  and  we are providing support to  the authority in terms of supporting  details, technical data, and scientific  evidences. We are getting significant support also from the authority. The approach of authority is also appreciable in terms to make ease to business operations.

 

What are future plans for the Tirupati Group- Nutraceutical Division?

 

Tirupati wishes to be a leader in the Indian industry and well-focused by being an early mover, well aligned tie ups with who’s and who of the industry and with excellent R&D facility, we shall endeavor to continue to evolve products and solutions in line with the market requirement and make it available to its customers.  Our focus is on therapies with long term sustainability and high growth segments. We shall continue to churn and evolve ourselves with value added novel solutions for niche markets. We look forward to growth of more than 30 per cent CAGR.