Mondelez India ups Bournvita game, now offers new variant to women

The country’s No.2 health drinks brand Bournvita from Mondelez India will now have a new variant for women, coming at a time when the overall market is seeing churn. Rival brands such as Horlicks and Complan are up for sale and industry sources say this is the best time for Bournvita to consolidate its position, which has for long enjoyed significant equity among mothers and kids.

“The last big launch was when we introduced Bournvita Lil Champs for toddlers in 2009. Bournvita for Women is a big leap. We are addressing nutritional needs of women, including calcium, iron, Vitamin D, and folic acid. This is also a product that has ‘no added sugar’, which is beneficial for the target group,” said Inderpreet Singh, associate director, marketing, gum, candy, beverages (India), Mondelez. 

Mondelez is also looking at more emerging spaces within health drinks, as consumers increasingly demand specialised products from manufacturers. Horlicks’s portfolio, for instance, already includes a protein variant targeted at men, a nutritional drink targeted at both women and mothers, specialist products for weight management, heart health, and diabetes, among other products. “We are aware of the trend towards health and wellness and are paying attention to what consumers want,” Singh said about future launches.

According to a Nielsen report, Bournvita’s all-India market share, calculated as an average over 12 months between July 2017 and July 2018, is 15 per cent. 

Horlicks for the same period had a share of 43.6 per cent, while Complan had a share of 6.1 per cent. If only the north and west markets, which are big consumers of health drinks, are considered, Bournvita is the leader with a market share of 35.2 per cent followed by Horlicks with a share of 19.6 per cent. Complan, on the other hand, had a 6 per cent share of the market, according to the Nielsen report. 

The nearly Rs 60-billion health drinks category in India has been slowing in terms of growth rates, as more nutrition substitutes emerge in the marketplace. 

According to Euromonitor, malt food drinks, in particular, slowed to 8.6 per cent from 13.2 per cent (per annum) in terms of growth rate between 2013 and 2017. And the pace of growth, Euromonitor said, will slow to 3.7 per cent (per annum) by 2022.

According to Abneesh Roy, senior vice-president, research, Edelweiss, the challenge for most health food drink makers would be to reinvent themselves in keeping with emerging trends. 

“These innovations could be in terms of formats, flavours, variants or even pack sizes to infuse excitement,” Roy said. Horlicks, for instance, reintroduced the Rs 5 price point recently after discontinuing it earlier. Bournvita for Women is priced at Rs 259 for a 400-gram pack.

Buzz of Coke picking Complan gets louder 

Coca-Cola India is ahead in the race to acquire Kraft Heinz’s India business, which includes Complan, Nycil, Glucon-D, and Sampriti Ghee. Coca-Cola has put in a bid of Rs 40-45 billion, sources said, pushing past players such as Cadila Healthcare and private equity partners Arpwood-Apax. Kraft Heinz first demanded Rs 70 billion for the India business, but is expected to settle for Rs 45 billion as taxation issues and growth prospects weigh down on the transaction. The bid to buy Complan will be Coca-Cola’s second bold bet after it acquired Costa Coffee globally two weeks ago.