Consumer Awareness And Behavior Towards Nutraceutical Products In India

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Consumer Awareness And Behavior Towards Nutraceutical Products In India

Nutraceuticals refer to food or part of a food, including beverages and food products that provide incremental medical or health benefits, including prevention or treatment of a disease. It spans across Functional Foods, Functional Beverages, and Dietary supplements. Some instances of Nutraceutical products are Probiotics, Fortified energy drinks, Vitamins, and Minerals, etc. The category is positioned in between Food & Beverages and Pharmaceuticals

Globally, the Nutraceuticals market is expected to witness huge growth. At the turn of the millennium, between 1999 and 2002, the industry grew at a CAGR of 7%. Subsequently, until 2010, it doubled to 14%. Currently, every year $12-15 Bn is being added to the global revenue. The US and Japan have been pioneers in embracing Nutraceuticals. Western Europe also represents a large market, with strong footprints in Germany, Italy, and France. Developing markets like India, Brazil and China are relatively smaller, yet have a huge growth opportunity. Indian market currently has a 2-3% share of the global market.

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

Key players in the Indian market feature both Indian and Multi-national companies. MNCs like GSK, HUL, Amway Nestle, Danone, Kellogg’s, and PepsiCo are trying to augment their market share and reinforce penetration. Strong Indian players like ITC, Dabur, Himalaya, Patanjali, and Baidyanath are also launching new products to reach out to newer segments and geographies in India. Many players have stayed in identified niche markets to play on their strengths.

Indian consumers are getting more aware of their fundamental needs for nutrition and proactive steps they can take to prevent chronic ailments and attain higher well-being. India has a significantly younger population and the younger generation is vigorously pursuing a more active lifestyle to enjoy fitness, to guard against obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, etc. In this context, the role of opinion-shapers like General

Practitioners, Fitness Instructors, and Nutritionists cannot be ignored. For accelerated penetration and growth, companies must develop programs for more extensive consumer understanding, decide which segments they would like to enter and compete. It is also important to formulate an effective communication strategy for the target audience to educate them on the benefits of this category. Side-effects and spurious products are two key concerns and a potential barrier for growth from all stakeholders and need to be quickly addressed. It is here that the Regulatory may want to play a more active role.

The relevant framework is the Food Safety & Standards (Health Supplements, Nutraceuticals, Food for Special Dietary Use, Food for Special Medical Purpose and Novel Food) notified by FSSAI in December 2016 in the Official Gazette. FSSAI has also issued guidelines for Labelling requirement and Health Claims. It is for the industry now to expedite implementation of the same.

It will help to understand the usage pattern of the nutraceutical products. This projects will help to understand the reasons for buying nutraceutical products and reasons for not preferring the products and to understand the source of awareness about the nutraceutical products among the people. The main reasons for the people who do not prefer nutraceutical products are because the product is not prescribed by the doctors. As the packaging also matters in the sale of the product. Most of the people are aware of the nutraceutical products and the source of awareness is through word of mouth, social media and T.V advertisement. As price and availability play an important role so people who do not prefer nutraceutical products because according to them nutraceutical products are expensive as compared to other products price is not the only factor that people are not considering nutraceutical products but availability is another factor.

Nutraceutical products are used for various purpose such as general wellbeing, weight control, bone health, cancer, etc. but mostly it is used to gain energy and improve the immune system. As the consumer of nutraceutical products, they do not prefer to use a cheap substitute if available in the market, because nutraceutical products have gained the trust of the consumer. As per the consumer one word that comes to their mind when they hear nutraceutical products is reliable and quality.