Wellbeing Nutrition Targets Innovative Delivery Mechanism

What was the idea behind the launch of Wellbeing Nutrition? 
Wellbeing Nutrition is the first company to build the idea of Organic Greens / Super Foods to deliver potent natural multivitamins in a format that is new and consumed like a lifestyle beverage (aka green juice) versus taking a medicine to get your daily dose of multivitamin. The company has introduced natural multivitamins in a convenient, yummilicious and easy to consume formats through our innovative products. The brand has partnered with over 20+ Doctors/Researchers/Scientist from UK, Germany and USA to bring the best innovation, technology and delivery formats to India.

Wellbeing Nutrition raised $2.2 million in a Series A round led by Fireside Ventures. ACG, an integrated solutions provider for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries, also participated in the round. In September 2020, the company had raised a $400,000 angel round. Since funding in July 2021, the company has scaled 5X in revenue and is slated to do a revenue of over INR 25 crore in the year 2022. We have a team size of around 60 people.

Where do you manufacture your products? Where do you sell your products (both retail and online)? Do you own any physical stores/planning to own one? Why/why not?
While the company imports all of the products’ ingredients from the US & EU due to stricter guidelines on each nutrient, all the end products are manufactured in India only. The company has retail presence across more than 1200+ Modern Retail Stores along with leading Pharmacy chains in India like WH Smith, Relay, Natures Basket, Spencer’s, Apollo Pharmacy, 24*7, Health & Glow and Lakme Salons. They also sell on online platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Healthkart, Nykaa and the company website www.wellbeingnutrition.com. The brand has also started operation in the UAE, UK, Singapore and USA and is available across over 200+ international stores. At present, we do not have any physical stores.

The Nutraceuticals Industry is getting more players every passing month. With so much clutter, what are the challenges you see going forward?
For the larger part, the lobby of large pharmaceutical companies is posing several restrictions on daily RDA limits needed for Indians. This poses a lot of restrictions/ road blocks from newer research and ingredients to be widely used across Indian Nutraceuticals products. The slow and constant arbid changes to FSSAI laws and regulations also create nuances with regard to label regulations. The larger concern is that there are no strict testing guidelines and toxicology regulations which causes trust issues amongst Indian customers on the usage and acceptability of products. False claims not being regulated by the governing body in Nutraceuticals industry creates false hope without tracked results for customers and hence there is slower acceptability of products.  

What are your product lines? Which is the highest selling product? Who is your competition?
Our key product lines include: Daily Wellness (Daily Greens, Matcha Tea, Vitamin C, Grandma’s Kadha); Functional Nutrition (e.g. Melts Hair, Sleep, B12, D3); Kids Organic Nutrition (e.g. Disney Melts – Multi Vitamin, Probiotic, Omega, Immunity, Vitamins)

The highest selling products include Collagen, Skin Fuel, Melts Hair, Melts Sleep, Melts Iron and Daily Greens.

Any new product launches in the pipeline for 2022?
The company plans to launch over 20 SKUs in the next couple of months. The brand is all set to launch new products including ‘Slow’ in India and other Asian markets. We have recently launched Melts (company’s patented Oral Thin Strips) which uses German Nano Technology and brings wellness and nutrition in a fun format which instantly dissolves on the users tongue, making it delicious and enjoyable to take your daily Vitamins – while also ensuring superior bioavailability, 100% potency and fast acting action for your daily Vitamins & Minerals. This has given the company an opportunity to partner with brands like Disney to create more potent and cleaner, Organic Certified and Sugar free nutrition for Kids aged 6-15, creating a revolutionary product for kids that does not exist globally.   

Wellbeing Nutrition’s soon to be launched brand “Slow” is build with the latest research in capsule technology with 2-1 NutriSciences and 8 hour Delayed release technology to ensure optimal delivery of nutrients into a customer’s body. With more sustained release of beadlets and active oils for increased potency and bio-availability of Vitamins, Minerals and Omega while infusing aromatherapy and taste filters, “Slow” will ensure even more pleasant and delicious experience for customers.

Wellbeing Nutrition's market- what's the size? Who are the top five players basis turnover? What is your turnover for 2020-21, 2021-22 (expected) and outlook for next fiscal?
India's Nutraceutical market is poised to be a global leader at USD 4-5 billion. Experts and reports suggested that it will grow to approximately USD 18 billion by 2025. The Nutraceuticals market in the U.S. is estimated at US$104.5 Billion in the year 2021. The country currently accounts for a 34.57% share in the global market. The revenue of the company stood at INR 2.13 crores during 2020 which was scaled up at INR 5.33 crores in 2021. The target for the year 2022 is INR 22 crores.

How did Covid -19 impact the Nutraceuticals Industry? What has been the impact of Covid-19 crisis on your business performance and growth?
The pandemic has brought newer and elevated opportunities for the Nutraceuticals industry. The post Covid-19 world is seeing a greater interest in wellness than ever before. A BCG report indicates that 57% of consumers are keen to include wellness products as part of their regular consumption habits. This concern for wellness extends to maintaining healthy and active lifestyles across.

During and post pandemic, Wellbeing Nutrition has scaled up its business to newer heights and has been constantly addressing this need gap of consumers by innovating and launching new wellness products. The company saw a tremendous increase in demand for their innovative and carefully designed research-driven products. Wellbeing Nutrition launched products relevant to Immunity, Gut, Sleep and Performance - all major concern areas during the pandemic. The company had also launched several products including Melts, Collagen, Probiotic & Prebiotic, Skin Fuel, Matcha tea. As a company, they have also got certified by the Waste Disposal Company and are now on the mission to be a Sustainable company with a low carbon footprint with the seal of sustainability.