In an interaction with Dr Minto Purshotam Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, Deccan Healthcare Ltd

We are currently exploring placing our products in 600 retail stores in the USA, which is the largest market in our segment, elucidates Dr Minto Purshotam Gupta, Chairman and Managing Director, Deccan Health Care Ltd

What is your outlook on the global nutraceuticals industry?   

The global nutraceuticals market is valued at $454.55 billion and is expected to expand to $991.09 billion by 2030. India accounts for only 2 per cent with tremendous opportunity for growth driven by preventive care and post-pandemic awareness of well-being amongst youngsters.   

The global nutraceuticals market is for 700 billion people. Nutraceutical is a food product, which gives physiological benefits, prevents diseases, and promotes better health. The market, according to me, is driven by the people; and people who can consume nutraceuticals, are a very large population. COVID has given a tailwind to it because the realisation of self-care has gone up multifold, and for self-care, one of the basic tools is nutraceuticals.  

India is home to 52 different agro-climatic zones. The country has access to a vast array of medicinal plants, giving a varied range of natural nutraceutical compounds. Deccan Healthcare’s product line of nutraceutical and cosmeceutical products is diverse with over 1,600 proprietary blends all sourced locally & organically in India.   

Ankurit Capital recently bought a 7.71 per cent stake in your company recently. How is the company going to utilise these funds?   

We would utilise the proceeds from the preferential issue to fund our digital transformation into gamified health and wellness for the millennials. We will continue to strengthen our brand position online as well as build a strong community for organic growth and become a dominant D2C player in the segment.  

In addition, we would continue to increase our footprint in offline stores and expand into international markets in UAE & USA. We are currently exploring placing our products in 600 retail stores in the USA, which is the largest market in our segment.  

How are you planning to expand your geographical reach via exports in the next five years? 

We plan to expand our global footprint with specific segmented products for the main market in the US, UK, and Europe. We are looking at expanding our focus in these markets over the next five years. We also plan to do local manufacturing there. From 600 retail stores in the US, we would like to scale it up to 6,000 in the next five years and be a part of all the major retail chains in the US.  

What is the strategy behind your brand ‘Be Young’? How have your products fared, given the young demographics of the country?   

‘Be Young’ brand is a D2C brand aimed at addressing 32 wellness goals of millennial consumers. This brand addresses segments like hair care, skincare, body care, energy, nutrition, and immunity. The best-accepted segment in this is hair care & skincare along with some of the specialised nutrients in the energy care and immunity care segment. Most of them are driven by Omega 3 as an active constituent where 97 per cent of the population in India, especially the millennials, is bound to be deficient. So, these have been framed with that in mind providing specific Omega functions – Omega 3 for the hair. It not only has Omega 3 but other nutrients as well with an Omega 3 base to take care of hair.    

Omega 3 is also good for the skin cells and this other nutrient, which is good for skin, is a part of the skincare range of ‘Be Young’. In the energy segment, energy boosting basically works on producing more energy by the natural process of energy production. These are not stimulant energy boosters like Red Bull or coffee but instead, are natural, non-caffeine-based boosters, where you get energy through the metabolism of the food that you eat. Our energy boosters don’t get stored as fat. These are some products that millennials are enjoying.   

In these uncertain times, have the rising costs due to inflation created challenges in sourcing raw materials?   

The inflationary situation is all around. The consumer wants a lower price whereas input costs are on the higher side. Whether it is on the labour front, material front, or services front, everywhere the cost has escalated. So, production costs have gone up and if you want to balance out production costs through a sales cost, it is difficult. So definitely, there has been pressure on the margins.   

However, compensating for the increasing price is not the only solution. So, we are increasing efficiencies of production, reducing the cost of going back into the supply chain, and decreasing the cost of inputs. We are balancing out by technology and not by a price increase. We are also doing technological and processed advancements to compensate for the inflationary pressure.