The country’s landscape for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) is rapidly changing with companies, specially the foreign owned ones, rushing in to acquire modest-sized Ayurvedic units boasting a few popular products. Before yoga guru Baba Ramdev-promoted Patanjali Ayurved and Art of Living fame Sri Sri Ravi Shankar-backed Sri Sri Ayurveda started catching the imagination of people of the wellness of Ayurveda-based products, foreign-origin consumer goods firms had little interest in them. In fact, many would dismiss millennia-old Ayurveda as pseudo science or proto-science. Whatever reservations they may have entertained about the efficacy of Ayurveda and herbal products, they are not expected to remain bystanders while the products rooted in nature continue to register a much faster growth rate than the rest. According to Dabur India Chairman Anand C Burman, people from all demographics and income groups are showing a strong preference for Ayurvedic, herbal and natural products. What is happening here is in sync with rising global preference for chemicals-free products. No wonder, companies with strong presence in Ayurvedic and herbal products backed by adequate research and development facilities are registering much higher growth rates than the industry average.
Ayurvedic and other traditional medicines got a shot in the arm when the Narendra Modi government created the Ayush ministry to promote research – which suffered in the past largely due to official indifference – and popularise the Ayush system of health care. One of the first things that the ministry did is to infuse life in Central Council of Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS). This is leading private sector groups engaged in development and production of Ayurvedic medicines and consumer products to seek research collaborations with CCRAS.
Last year, Dabur entered into a licence agreement with CCRAS which will lead to commercial production of two Ayurvedic drugs. Such collaboration between CCRAS and the private sector will go a long way in raising the acceptance level of Ayurvedic medicines among medical practitioners, including the ones doing allopathic treatment and the masses. These traditional Indian medicines need to be backed by adequate research data and clinical diagnosis. Starting in the earlier part of the 20th century and continuing for many decades, foreign drug companies systematically run down Ayurvedic practice and other traditional medical practices such as Unani and Siddha. Since Independence, all governments did in a piecemeal way to breathe life into traditional medicines. But, it is only now that a dedicated ministry, Ayush, is engaged in evolving a comprehensive strategy to put traditional medicines and Ayurvedic products on a scientific pedestal. It has rightly made the private sector a partner in this pursuit.
Do not, however, expect the big FMCG groups to sit idle and watch mid-sized groups and upstarts such as Patanjali and Sri Sri Ayurveda reap all the benefits from the government’s drive for universal acceptance of medicinal and lifestyle products based on at least five millennia-old Ayurvedic wisdom. Patanjali has claimed that this year, its turnover will double to Rs 10,000 crore. Ayurvedic medicines described by its protagonists as science of life treat the physical and mental sources of illness by recommending use of herbs in conjunction with yoga. India’s principal votary of yoga is Prime Minister Modi himself. The global market for Ayurvedic medicines is an estimated $100 billion and this is to grow to $115 billion by 2020. Europe happens to be the largest market for traditional medicine.
Unfortunately, India where the origin of Ayurveda is traced has a negligible share in the global trade of such medicine. This is because Indian Ayurvedic medicines in most cases do not conform to international specifications. Some Indian groups, including Dabur, Himalaya and Emami are addressing the issue by using cutting-edge technology while making traditional medicine in the form of pills, oils and creams.
As Hindustan Unilever in its drive to claim a share of the fast-growing Ayurvedic market has relaunched its Ayush range of products, it recently acquired the Indulekha brand of hair care products from Mosons Group. Can ITC, which in a decade has built an FMCG business of well over Rs 12,000 crore, afford to stay away from Ayurvedic products? This is highly unlikely. Otherwise, why should ITC be giving a thrust to growing medicinal and aromatic plants and why is a focus area of its life sciences centre is to develop products based on Indian genetics and environmental factors of relevance to local consumer?
