Global health and wellness brand Herbalife, which launched a new flavour - Paan Formula 1 shake - for its main selling product in India last week sees the country as its biggest market, second only to its home country - the US. Kent Bradley, the company’s chief health and nutrition officer sat down with DH’s Shakshi Jain to discuss the company’s progress in India and plans going forward.
Edited excerpts.
What is India’s position as a market for Herbalife?
India is the second largest market for us after the United States. India has seen a double-digit growth over the last three years. The net sales in India were $677.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The net sales increased by $158 million or 30.4%, for the year as compared to the same period in 2021.
Globally, the company’s overall net sales stood at $5204.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. Herbalife has spent 3.6% of its net sales, which is $24.3 million, on marketing and advertising.
India has been a growth driver now for us for a number of years. We are witnessing a growing demand for our sports nutrition products too.
What have been your key learnings from the Indian market in recent times?
Herbalife recognises the growing demand for weight management solutions and wellness products in developing countries like India. We acknowledge obesity as a significant issue in certain parts of the world and South-east Asia. We also see an increasing trend in tier 2 and tier 3 markets adapting to wellness post the pandemic, where there is a spike in demand for these products.
Protein intake deficiency and the lack of micronutrients in the Indian diet are also highlighted as concerns.
Any plans to open physical stores for your products ?
We’re committed to only selling our products through our independent distributors and entrepreneurs in the market place - across every part of the world in which we operate. We believe that that’s a better investment because it delivers better results. The education that a distributor brings is really our key focus.
Walk us through your expansion plans in India.
We’ve made a significant commitment to the manufacturing of our products within India. I think that’s an area of further opportunity, as well as further research and development within India to find the products we need in the marketplace. Clearly, as India grows we’re looking at how to insource significant amount of what we provide in the marketplace within India.
Herbalife has made significant investments in research and development by establishing a high-end research facility in Bengaluru. This facility serves as a hub where experts collaborate with the quality and production teams to develop new flavors and introduce new categories of products.