India’s nutraceutical market opportunities ‘far bigger’ than the pharma sector

Nutrition Asia / FI-India

23-Aug-2023 - Last updated on 23-Aug-2023 at 01:54 GMT

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This is according to Ajit Singh, chairman and founder of ACG Worldwide. Singh was speaking with NutraIngredients-Asia ​during the Food Ingredients India (FI-India) tradeshow held in Mumbai between August 17 and 19.

He pointed out that the nutraceutical sector had experienced phenomenon growth in the past five to 10 years, with several new companies that offer either nutraceutical manufacturing or marketing services venturing into the sector.

“At ACG Worldwide, ​we manufacture empty capsules for the nutraceutical industry as well, so we are able to get a good appreciation of nutraceutical industry growth as compared to the pharmaceutical industry growth around the world.​

“I​n India, we had a small nutra industry 10 years ago, so it's a phenomenon that has come up just in the last five to 10 years,” ​said Singh, who is also the president of Health Foods & Dietary Supplements Association (HADSA).

In fact, he believes that growth opportunities in the nutraceutical sector is greater than that of the pharmaceutical sector, considering how nutraceuticals could be consumed as an everyday product while pharmaceuticals are only taken when one falls sick.

“Everyone says that the pharma industry never goes backwards and it's a wonderful industry to be in or to be a supplier to. I agree with that, but opportunities in the nutraceutical industry are actually much bigger,”​ he said.

In addition, India’s nutraceutical distributors and brands are paying more attention to the science behind functional ingredients, instead of merely considering their price.

This is according to Japanese dairy giant Morinaga which exhibited at the tradeshow.

As compared to their debut during the pre-COVID era, the company notices that India’s nutraceutical distributors and brand owners are far more concerned about the clinical evidence of their ingredients.

“​We have always looked at India as a potential market and we position our probiotics strains as premium. on the other hand, the market in this country is considered as very price competitive, but we are seeing some growth now.​

“​I think many of our potential customers are trying to understand the science behind our probiotic strains and that's something that we didn't see in the past,” ​said Endo Satoshi, managing director / CEO at Morinaga Nutritional Foods (Asia Pacific).

One of the ingredients that the firm had showcased was heat-killed Lacticaseibacillus paracasei ​MCC1849 – a postbiotic trademarked as LAC-Shield.​

The postbiotic has been studied for its benefits for immune health and influenza vaccine response in healthy adults and the elderly.

Watch the video to find out more.

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