This is up 17.6 percent over the previous year, overtaking the US that had been Herbalife’s largest market from its launch in 1980 (File photo | AP)
MUMBAI: Direct seller Herbalife Nutrition, the health and wellness firm from the US, has said India has become the largest revenue contributor to the Los Angeles based parent among all the 94 countries in which it’s present in 2023 with a revenue of $796.6 million of its $5 billion global income. This is up 17.6 percent over the previous year, overtaking the US that had been its largest market from its launch in 1980.
The Bengaluru-based Herbalife India, where it has a global R&D centre and a food and ayurveda lab, also announced its entry into skincare products based on ayurveda under the Vritilife outer nutrition range. The company had in 2020 entered the ayurveda segment focusing on inner nutrition.
The newly-launched skin care range includes facial cleansers, facial toners, facial serums and moisturizers, which are placed in the luxury range, said Ajay Khanna, the managing director of Herbalife India.
He expects the ayurveda range to fetch 5 percent of the topline over the next five years.
“From a revenue perspective, we are the largest for the group, overtaking China. In fact we overtook China in 2023 with sales rising by 17.6 percent to $796.6 million for the fiscal year ending December 2023. In absolute terms sales increased by $119.5 million over December 2022,” Khanna told TNIE but refused to share the margins or net profit.
Further he said India sales rose to $203.5 million for the three months ending March 2024, up $24.9 million or 13.9 percent over the corresponding period last year and he is expecting to close the full year with around 14 percent topline growth.
Against this, the firm’s global sales stood at $5.06 billion for the year to December 2023, he said, adding Asia Pacific continues to be the company’s strongest region, with $1.72 billion of sales and is predominantly led by India as a region driving that growth.
“Our product portfolio expansion, brand promotion, and a wide network of distributors who are over 1 million here have driven sales growth. Weight management and the energy & fitness category continue to perform well here. The product portfolio comprises 48 products across fitness & performance, daily nutrition and overall health,” he added.
“In 2022, India overtook China to become the number two market for Herbalife in the world. But it’s growing faster than China, faster than Mexico, faster than the US and so I think India is currently set up to become our largest market globally,” the company’s global chief executive John Agwunobi had predicted in March 2022.
Herbalife India, which has been here for over 20 years, is not however looking to take the ayurveda range to global markets.
The domestic beauty products market is evolving at a rapid rate, with ayurveda seeing a significant growth. A recent Verified Market Research study valued the ayurveda beauty market at $8-9 billion.
Credit: Source link