The Himalaya Drug Company has now entered into the nutraceutical market with its maiden product ‘HiOwna-Jr.’ for kids. The prescription-based nutritional supplement promotes physical and mental growth and enhances immunity in children from two years of age right up to their pre-teens.

The product has undergone research of seven years and in the last three years advanced studies have been undertaken to introduce the same. In a study carried out by Astreos Health Solutions for Himalaya, indicated a rising incidence of iron, micro and macro nutrient deficiencies in the country among urban kids which led to the development of a specific nutrient supplement, essential for normal development.

Unhealthy and fussy eating habits lead to stunted growth, cognitive debility and poor immunity. This is where HiOwna-Jr. was developed combining the knowledge of Ayurveda with modern science, to give children a daily herbal nutritional health supplement which is scientifically validated with age-old herbs along with essential vitamins and minerals, said Philipe Haydon, CEO, Pharmaceuticals, The Himalaya Drug Company at a press conclave.

The product contains pea-protein, a vegetable protein with superior essential amino acid profile, used for the first time in India. It also contains 13 essential vitamins, nine minerals, colostrum and potent herbs. It also has Ragi (finger millet) that improves nutritive status, Maricha (black pepper), a bio-availability enhancer, Mandukaparni (centella), a cerebral activator, and Amalaki (Indian Gooseberry), an immunity enhancer and the richest source of vitamin C. All these play a vital role in improving appetite and reducing illness, especially, recurrent respiratory infections, he added.

Another notable feature of the product is that it incorporates superior granulation technology allowing the contents to dissolve in water or milk more quickly than any other nutritional supplement in the market. HiOwna-Jr is now marketed pan-India covering tier II and tier III cities and rural areas. It is available in chocolate and strawberry flavours costing Rs.185 and Rs.180 respectively.

The company has planned to have a dedicated nutraceutical division shortly. Currently nine products are on the cards, of which seven are under development for pregnancy-lactation, weight management, meal replacement, diabetes, and women’s health. By the year end it would introduce HiOwna-Sr too.

“We have high expectations from HiOwna to achieve a Rs.100 crore target seems well within reach. There are several players in the nutritional supplements for kid category like PediaSure from Abbot, Kids Pro from British Biologicals and Proteinex from Wockhardt but we should stand apart being a prescription driven ayurveda product, he said.

While the pharmaceutical division in Himalaya generates 60 per cent revenues to its turnover of Rs.1200 crore with a CAGR of 25 per cent, the company is confident that nutraceuticals could generates 25 per cent of the earnings in the coming years. There is a huge scope of growth via the prescription route as India has 1.2 million practicing doctors of which Himalaya has tapped 400,000 of them via its sales force of 2,500 personnel.

A recent Frost and Sullivan report estimates the Indian nutraceuticals market at $1480 million in 2011, expected to reach $2731 million in 2016 at a CAGR of 13.0 per cent. Of this, the nutritional and health supplements are the largest sub-category accounting for 64 per cent of the market.