Ayurvedic prominence: India’s BodyFirst sets sail for official launch with ashwagandha, astaxanthin products
The firm has been selling its products online and in physical retail with 15 distributors concentrated in the North India region for the past nine months.
Speaking to NutraIngredients-Asia, chief advisor Sandeep Gupta said the firm had achieved a “decent level of market penetration” through social media, online, and distributor marketing.
The official launch will see the firm work with 100 more distributors across India in phase one of the expansion. Consumers outside of India will also be able to buy its products online.
Some of the firm’s key products are ashwagandha and astaxanthin capsules made with clinically tested KSM-66 ashwagandha from Ixoreal Biomed and AstaReal’s astaxanthin respectively.
Gupta also believes that it is the right time to expand its reach into other parts of India because there is now a heightened interest in natural ayurvedic products.
As part of the country’s battle against COVID-19, the Indian government announced plans to conduct clinical trials on four ayurvedic medicine formulations. They include ashwagandha, yashtimadhu, guduchi and pippali, and a poly herbal formulation.
“I will say that now, the AYUSH ministry, even the Prime Minister Office, and the Ministry of Health, they are all talking about the Indian natural herbs.
“I think this is the time when the traditional, natural ingredients are going to take a front seat in the Indian market,” he said.
Ambitious plans
In the next 12 months, the firm plans to launch over 15 products catering to different consumers. The goal was to become the number one brand for the masses in the wellness category, Gupta said.
Examples of the target audience include the elderly, children, youths, hobby seekers, working adults, sports, and women’s health categories.
He also revealed that the new products would be made with natural and clinically studied ingredients and come in different formats, such as powders, capsules, tablets, vegetarian soft gel capsules.
Some of these would be developed in collaboration with the international firms.
“BodyFirst has the ambitious plan of becoming the number one brand in the wellness category in the short term of its launch in various categories.
“In the span of next 12 months, BodyFirst will present more than 15 unique products catering to various segment of the population, which is the need of the hour amid COVID-19,” he said.
The firm has already launched a plant protein targeted for mass consumption, instead of only targeting gym-goers.
The key ingredients are organic pea protein isolate, organic brown rice protein isolate, and edible legume seed protein isolate.
“The Indian vegetarian population lacks protein intake. Our objective for the plant protein product is to reach the masses, so that we can address the deficiency, instead of selling the product protein for body building purposes,” he said.
