HUL’s Horlicks and Boost repositioned as Functional Nutritional Drinks

Amid Government crackdown on misleading ads by various companies, including FMCG brands, making false claims of being “healthy”, Hindustan Unilever has repositioned two of its ‘Health Food Drinks’ brands – Horlicks and Boost.

In its quarterly and full year results for FY2024 as well as in its investor presentation, HUL categorised Horlicks and Boost as Functional Nutritional Drinks, which delivered high-single digit growth driven by the ‘Plus’ range in Q4 FY2024.

It may be noted here that on April 10, 2024, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry had asked e-commerce platforms to remove drinks and beverages such as Bournvita, Horlicks, Protinex, etc., from the ‘healthy drinks’ category on their platforms. The Ministry cited a notification by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which had stated that there is no “Health Drink defined under FSS Act 2006, Rules and regulations as submitted by FSSAl and Mondelez India Food Pvt Ltd”.

Addressing the HUL earnings press conference, Ritesh Tiwari, CFO, HUL, stated, “We have changed the labels of the category to FND, which is a much better way to call it,” and added that the functional nutritional drinks offered a huge opportunity for growth.

Meanwhile, in a post-earnings call, Rohit Jawa, CEO, HUL, affirmed, “We are fully compliant with (the) FSSAI guidelines”, while claiming that a serving of Horlicks contains less than 1 teaspoon of added sugar.

It may be recalled here that there has been a huge furore of revelations in a report that Nestle’s baby food brand Cerelac which is sold in India contains as much as 2.7 grams of sugar per serving. The report further stated that Nestle doesn’t add sugar to its Cerelac brand, which is sold in the UK and other European nations.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is said to be investigating into these allegations, besides it has brought under its scanner all brands selling baby food and infant formula milk.

FMCG and Food & Beverage brands are under intense scrutiny after the Supreme Court’s tough stance against Patanjali for making false claims in its ads. In fact, the apex court has asked for the ambit of investigations to include all FMCG brands. The next hearing in the case will be held on April 30, 2024.

Earlier this week, two well-known Indian spice brands – MDH and Everest – were recalled by the authorities in Singapore and Hong Kong for having traces of the pesticide Ethylene Oxide, a known carcinogen, in certain products that is over the permissible limits.