Science behind life
Priyanka Shetty, Head – British Life Sciences, a British Biologicals Company, talks to ENN about the opportunities in infant and baby nutrition segment
What is the rationale behind the launch of British Life Sciences, considering the parent company, British Biologicals is mainly in medical nutrition?
British Biologicals, a pioneer in the field of nutrition, caters to all age groups, i.e. from pediatrics to geriatrics. There was scope for us to include infant and baby nutrition. Considering the highly sensitive nature of infant and baby nutrition, and the potential in terms of the market size, we felt that a separate department was needed to address this. As a well-known global nutraceutical company with manufacturing units in India, this is the right time for British Life Sciences to enter the market. With a large repository of product/ segment knowledge and over two decades of research in the field of medical nutrition, we knew that we had the wherewithal to address the needs of our youngest customers “ infants and children.
What is the market size of Infant nutrition products in India?
What factors are helping the growth of the sector in India? The Indian baby food market is estimated to be around ` 22 billion and rising. India is no more the country it used to be a few decades ago. More and more women are entering into the mainstream work force. Her career is not flexi or optional anymore. The modern Indian woman is the mother who prefers to get back to her job/ career soon after delivering her child. The modern Indian woman is also the mother who understands nutrition and how to supplement or fill in gaps in her childs nutrition. British Life Sciences is at the helm, enabling her to tackle these lifestyle changes with offerings which ensure nutrition for a better life of her child.
Tell us about your products?
From the Life Sciences stable we currently have two products- one for infants and the other for babies. MMS Infant Formula is the substitute for Mothers milk, which is recommended to mothers who are unable to breastfeed their babies for various reasons. MMS uses only the highest quality ingredients and its composition is superior to any other competing product in the market today. It provides optimal nutrition for infants and is the ideal substitute for mothers milk. Mums Care is a specially designed organic baby cereal which provides all the essential nutrition for babies above six months of age. With our in-depth study and research in baby foods, corroborated by study findings elsewhere in the world, we found that organically grown produces are much more nutritious than conventionally grown ones. This prompted us to bring out Indias first organic baby cereal, a fact which we are proud of.
What are your plans on organic baby food?
Recent studies have shown that organic food is the best form of nutrition, especially for infants and babies. With the amount of toxins and preservatives present in most infant nutrition products, their consumption often leads to serious health complications. Also, children are more susceptible to the risks of pesticide exposure. Hence, going forward, we are of the opinion that organic baby nutrition products would become a benchmark for safe and trustworthy baby foods.
What are the challenging areas for you?
How do you sail through them? The traditional Indian baby food market is dominated by MNCs who have been operating for many years. They have firmly established their brands in India. The challenge is not to compete with the MNC giants, but to break the clutter and carve a niche for ourselves in this segment. British Biologicals, our parent company has been a pioneer in the field of medical nutrition in India. It is trusted not only by the consumers across 21 countries, but also by the medical fraternity who prescribe these products. Using the research experience of our parent company, we have been able to develop superior quality and formulation of our products in British Life Sciences. So our products not only have exclusivity, but also a strong and trusted brand backing to ride on. Success for us is only a function of time then.
Tell us about your short and long term plans?
At British Life Sciences, we believe that we are not just another Life Sciences Company. We believe that we are the Science behind life. Our vision is to provide the best quality products to all our discerning consumers and this remains our ultimate goal. We have covered the infant and toddler age group for now. Going forward, we would be introducing more nutritional products intended for children up to 12 years of age. These are currently unavailable in the Indian market. We are excited about the future prospects of our fledgling enterprise and are confident of our success.
uld_count:
Cookie not set
Like
Dislike
Value 1: 0
Value 2: 10
