It may not have been long since you bought a pack of Horlicks, Complan or Bournvita. But for the marketers of these brands, life has been a cupful of woes.
The category of health food drinks (also known as milk food drinks or MFD), to which these brands belong, has been stagnating for the last three years.
Consider this. In 1999, the milk food drink segment grew by 6 to 7 per cent with annual sales of major players at 82,000 tonnes. In value terms, this market was estimated at Rs 1,100 crore.
Analysts tracking the sector say that was the last time the category saw growth. While volumes in the MFD category have dropped to 70,000 tonnes, value climbed marginally to Rs 1,200 crore owing to periodic price increases.
