Amway looks to enhance exports of herbal, Ayurvedic products to South East Asian nations

Direct selling major Amway is looking to enhance exports of herbal and Ayurveda-based products from India to South East Asian nations, according to company global CEO Milind Pant.

The company is also working to develop new products and innovate in the areas of preventive health, nutrition and wellness to offer items in broader food and beverages formats and not just as tablets as it has done in the past and build on partnerships like it has with FMCG major ITC.

The company had planned to export from its manufacturing plant near Madurai in Tamil Nadu, where it has invested Rs 600 crore.

“It has started exporting now to South East Asian nations. We have started even exporting Glister herbal toothpaste to Indonesia and we are looking at Thailand and other countries for that,” Pant told PTI.

Stating that it has been a good start, he added, “We have a lot to do and I think all the work that is happening both on manufacturing and our backward integration, and all the investments we’ve made thus far, the innovation that is taking place in herbals and Ayurveda, has the potential especially for Southeast Asia first and then of course, other parts of the world.” When asked how big the exports from India could be, Pant said, “We have made a good start now. We’ve done this in the middle of supply chain disruptions on inbound ingredients, manufacturing safety, outbound logistics, the team has done heroic work, making this start.

“I’m confident that with the high quality standards, the innovation taking care of products, this will only go up. It is difficult to say and put a number to it today.” He further said, “I’m very encouraged by the response we’re getting from our Asian markets in Amway to the number of products that are now getting exported out of India.” When asked if Amway planned to widen its product offerings, he said, “Yes it’s going to be in the area of preventive health, nutrition and wellness.” Elaborating, Pant said, “What we’ll be doing is we are taking our nutrition and botanicals know-how and using (it in) a new product format, for example we are moving into gummies, in addition to the work that’s happening and Ayurveda. So, we continue to innovate.” The idea behind the innovation is to offer the products in normally consumed formats and not as tablets.

Citing Amway’s partnership with ITC, Pant said, “We’ve taken some of them to beverages, and we’re looking at these partnerships to continue to innovate, and the entire basis will always be how can you provide higher nutrition, not just to tablets, as we’ve done in the past, but in formats that are broader food and beverages.” Those innovations are what the team is working on both on its own as well as its partnership with companies like ITC, he added.

Stating that there is a “massive potential” for such products as many of the consumers are unable to have good nutrition due to the modern day lifestyle, he said, “So supplementation in some form is required.” Amway is using science and R&D to see “how we can provide efficacy in formats that go beyond tablets so that you can get higher penetration and higher usage and higher adoption of a healthy nutrition, lifestyle and supplementation.”