GSK weaves growth plan around health, nutrition

NEW DELHI: FMCG major GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) India has outlined a three-pronged growth strategy, riding on the health, wellness and nutrition platform.
As part of the strategy, the company plans to grow its flagship product Horlicks into a mega-brand, filling in the gaps by introducing health and wellness products from its global portfolio as well as those developed indigenously, and make a foray into the Rs 600-crore nutrition segment in the market.
"There is a huge space in the nutrition specialist category growing at 30-35%, and we plan to tap this fastest growing segment. We have created Glaxo Nutrition as a separate division to develop products specifically targeted to suit needs of Indians and will be expanding our range over the next few months," GSKCH India managing director Zubair Ahmed said on Thursday.
Globally, the specialist nutrition market is a $33 billion business with major food and pharma players such as Nestle, Danone and Abbott.
In India, it has very few players including Wockhardt (Protinex), Amway (Nutrilite) and Abbott (PediaSure), and is expected to expand exponentially.
The company has applied for regulatory approval to introduce popular global brands such as Sensodyne toothpaste, health drinks Ribena and Lucozade, smoking cessation products (Commit) and snore relief product Breathe Right.