How the pandemic has brought immunity booster brands to the forefront

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased awareness and need for superior quality immunity boosting products. Consumers are proactively seeking solutions that can easily integrate into their daily routine. Emphasis on immunity boosting has led to a surge in demand for healthier foods and preventive products. According to an EY report, an ~80 per cent increase in demand for Chyawanprash was seen in March 2020; while demand for turmeric has gone up by ~40 per cent and demand for packaged health foods has increased by 35 per cent.

Also read:  Marico launches Chyawanprash, forays into immunity-boosting segment

There is increased focus on health and wellbeing and higher demand for value brands as consumers trade down. Consumers are re-allocating their budgets from non-essentials to stockpile essentials such as food, personal care and disinfectants, which provides an opportunity to brands to develop “categories of tomorrow”, such as, hand sanitizers, disinfectants, immunity boosters.

All of us as kids used to have some kind of immunity booster products – Waterbury’s Compound was given to fight against cold and cough; Feradol, a tonic, was administered to boost immunity and also give strength; Chyawanprash has been the go-to daily staple for health and increased immunity; along with grandma’s gharelu nuskhe for every conceivable health issue. We were encouraged to have our daily dose of vitamins too and now cooking oils are selected based on their Omega 3 and good cholesterol building properties.

Search for immunity boosters surges

With the fear of COVID-19, preventive measures were the first thing that people were searching for online. According some reports, there has been a huge jump of 500 per cent for searches related to health and healthy products, especially for those that boost immunity. Search for Vitamin C was up by over 150 per cent as were the searches for herbs with medicinal properties from the Ayurvedic space and self-medication went on the rise. Many brands across categories are tapping into this opportunity to promote some of the essential products as immunity boosters by adding and supplementing with Vitamin C, relevant minerals and antioxidants.

Brands leveraging immunity booster category

Seeing the growing demand, brands have come up with products fortified with immunity boosting properties ranging from Cooking Oil, Atta, Fruit Juices to Chyawanprash, honey, spices, etc. Packaged water brand Bisleri focussed on how important it is to be well hydrated and maintain your immunity with added minerals as additional supplement in their products. ITC launched the “Immunity Song” to market its dairy brand Aashirvaad Svasti, while Hindustan Unilever has underlined the immunity-boosting qualities of Vitamins C and D, plus Zinc in one of their campaigns for Horlicks. Baked goods label Bonn has launched a ‘Herb and Seed’ variant of its bread in order to boost immunity.

Dabur has witnessed a surge in demand for Dabur Chyawanprash, Dabur Honey, immunity-boosting Ayurvedic products like Dabur Giloy Ghanvati tablets, Ashwagandha capsules, Health juices like Amla juice, Giloy-Neem-Tulsi juice, etc. The company has also introduced a slew of innovations under the immunity umbrella to cater to the growing consumer need.

Marico has forayed into the Chyawanprash category with the launch of Saffola Arogyam Chyawan Amrut Awaleha, which is in line with its aim to strengthen its presence in the health and immunity-boosting segment. Marico has also forayed into the Ayurvedic segment under the Saffola brand, launching its new range of Saffola ImmuniVeda ayurvedic products – the Kadha Mix and the Golden Turmeric Milk Mix.

Immunity Boosters – Demand & Market

According to some industry estimates, the immunity boosting packaged products market in India is projected to reach $347 million by 2026. Nutrition and immunity have become crucial drivers in today’s world.

While this is a great opportunity for brands to enter this category, there needs to be proper guidelines from the government on what kind of products can qualify as immunity boosters, besides strict check on quality of products. In her article, ‘Misleading Ads: Are consumers becoming immune to ‘Immunity Claims’?’, advocate Aazmeen Kasad cautions about the aspect of the immunity boosting claims made by manufacturers of products and service providers, during the COVID-19 pandemic, which are misleading the gullible and anxious consumers.

Sharing his insights with Adgully on the growth of the immunity boosters category, Mohit Malhotra, Chief Executive Officer, Dabur India Ltd, said, “Demand patterns have changed significantly since the COVID outbreak, with consumers increasingly seeking Ayurveda-based interventions for boosting their immunity, besides products that meet their personal and household hygiene needs. Within a month of the outbreak, ‘Immunity’ became one of the most searched words on Google, reflecting the shift in consumer preference.”

Health and Hygiene have emerged as the key consumer needs in the post-COVID world. Ayurveda-based preventive healthcare and hygiene – both personal and household – are gaining prominence in the consumer mind space. People are now more inclined to prophylactic health remedies, especially immunity boosting products. This trend would sustain, going forward.

Adding further, Malhotra said that Dabur has been at the forefront on delivering authentic Ayurvedic solutions to meet the Health Care needs of consumers for over centuriesnow. “We have a host of Ayurvedic products in our portfolio that offer immunity-boosting properties. In view of this changing consumer behaviour, we have revamped our portfolio mix with immunity boosting healthcare and hygiene products gaining prominence, while alongside enhancing production of our existing Ayurvedic Immunity boosters like Dabur Chyawanprash and Dabur Honey,” he added.

Ajay Khanna, CMO, Amway India, remarked that products that support the immune system have always been there, however, over the last few months there has been heightened the awareness for strong immunity and overall wellbeing, drawing significant focus to the segment. “This mega trend of a holistic approach to wellness is expected to drive category growth for Amway, therefore, we have coined the term 'What's IN', where IN stands for Immunity and Nutrition. In line with the emerging trends, we have observed a spike in the sale of immunity supporting SKUs by almost 4 times along with an increase in demand for personal hygiene and home-care categories. Guided by ever-evolving consumer trends, we will continue strengthening the category with product innovations to build a strong pipeline of launches in the nutrition space in the coming months.”

Suman Varma, Chief Marketing Officer, Hamdard Laboratories (Medicine Division), pointed out that immunity booster products have always been part of India’s rich medicinal heritage pertaining to the availability of numerous herbal/ medicinal plants effective in treating diseases. There has been ample emphasis on the importance of a healthy mind and body with a focus on exercising and inclusion of a balanced diet. For that matter, Indian kitchens are a powerhouse of various ingredients and remedies that are proven beneficial in curing multiple illnesses and are validated by modern science as well. 

She further said, “This category always existed, but it is only now that individuals are realising the importance of supplementation and inclusion of immunity boosters as a preventive measure against COVID-19 pandemic and other microbial infections. Therefore, the growing acceptance for immunity boosters will have many new brands foray into the wellness space with long-term goals.”

The system of Unani medicine has been prevalent for centuries providing preventive, curative, and rehabilitative healthcare. “As a leading Unani health & wellness brand we work around the year, as our job is to ensure everyone’s wellbeing and develop natural products based on Unani system of medicines. We re-aligned our communication strategy for existing immunity booster products like Joshina, Joshanda, Imyoton, etc., that have been part of our portfolio for decades now,” Varma added.

Harsha V Agarwal, Director, Emami Ltd, noted, “With the outbreak of this pandemic, there is a huge shift in consumer behaviour with respect to health and immunity products. People now understand the importance of immunity boosters in stopping the spread of the virus. Consumers are looking for products that are safe and which they can trust. They are currently more into prevention mode instead of the earlier trend of problem and solution. This trend is expected to sustain over the next one or two years. We are looking at this opportunity from a long-term perspective rather than a short term one. All our new launches in the health and immunity category are experiencing encouraging consumer response.”

With stating that demand for Ayurvedic products with healthcare benefits have definitely gone up, Agarwal added, “Ayurveda has a strong legacy in India. We find it extremely encouraging that the value and benefits of Ayurveda is being recognised today by people at large. It is obvious that the current environment has helped to impact the interest of consumers in Ayurveda positively, which is helping in driving the demand.” 

Rasika P, Co-Founder & CMO, Soulfull, Kottaram Agro Foods, commented, “With the onslaught of the pandemic, seeking key food ingredients that impact consumers’ immunity has become a rising trend in the FMCG and OTC Pharma space. A lot of brands have jumped on this bandwagon with claims suggesting immunity-boosting properties. We believe this is a short-term proposition for the FMCG consumer segment. Immunity is body’s functional response (immune response) to pathogens and to increase immunity is to better our system to be able to respond better. One of the ways to achieve this is to partake in a balanced diet filled with nutrients such as vitamins. As a responsible household brand, it’s important to communicate honestly, raise awareness clearly and add correct value to the end-consumer in confusing times. Even before the pandemic, Ragi’s natural properties in itself support immunity, we felt it is our responsibility to raise awareness. We felt more purposeful when government supported agencies like FSSAI themselves along with Prime Minister (during ‘Mann Ki Baat’) raised awareness of Ragi by including it in list of foods to build and support immunity.”