While three in ten Indian VMS users have taken mineral supplements such as calcium, iron, zinc (30%) and multivitamins (28%); eye health and beauty are high on the nation’s agenda
Endless hours spent in front of screens, intensified by COVID 19, is opening up a white space opportunity for vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) players in India, according to the latest research from Mintel.
While three in ten Indian VMS users have taken mineral supplements such as calcium, iron, zinc (30%) and multivitamins (28%); eye health and beauty are high on the nation’s agenda.
Over the last 12 months over a quarter of Indian VMS users have taken hair/skin/nails supplements (27%) and eye health supplements (26%), making usage higher than that of bone/joint health (22%) and prebiotics/probiotics (19%).
It is the nation’s self prescribers who are driving usage of eye health supplements in particular. Almost four in ten (38%) self prescribers have taken an eye health supplement, making it the most popular supplement taken by this group.
Rimpie Tulsiani, Mintel Senior Beauty and Personal care Analyst, India, said:
“Consumers are now seeking lifestyle solutions, and are proactively consuming VMS related to preventative health. Awareness has also grown of the issues of stress or blue light damage, and as a result, penetration rates for beauty and eye health VMS are higher than for bone or digestive health. Additionally, urban lifestyles have led consumers to spend most of their time in front of screens, leading to health concerns due to exposure to blue light as well. This focus on blue light protection will intensify during the COVID period, as screen time typically increases while working from home. Furthermore, promoting the concept of beauty ‘inside out and outside in’ will help appeal to consumers who aspire for beautiful skin or hair. There is an opportunity to develop combination products that can be ingested as well as applied on the skin.”
Mintel Global New Products Database highlights that India is responsible for one in five (19%) VMS launches in APAC (between Jan 2019 an July 2020), compared to the next highest countries: Korea (17%), Australia and Japan (11%). Despite India being an APAC innovation leader, just 37% of Indians use VMS.
However, according to Mintel’s latest COVID-19 research, 58% of Indians expect to spend more on healthcare products in the next month than before—highlighting strong category potential for the VMS sector.