The Hindu Business Line : Alembic unveils Zero-calorie sugar substitute

FITNESS-CONSCIOUS consumers now have a new sugar substitute to reach out for. A no-calorie sugar substitute, `Zero', was launched here on Wednesday by the Gujarat-based pharma company Alembic Ltd.

The product differentiates itself from the other sugar-substitutes in the market on the fact that it is made on the molecule sucralose and does not contain aspartame. Sugar-substitutes in the country are required to have a caution label on them, due to the presence of aspartame, which is reported to be unsafe for children.

At Rs 60 for a pack of 90 tablets, Zero is on a par with other similar products in the estimated Rs 60-crore market, said Mr Pradeep Rane, President, Alembic. Other popular products in the segment include Sugar Free from Zydus Cadila, Sweetex from Boots Piramal and Equal from Merisant.

The Rs 600-crore company expects to capture about 10 per cent of the current market in the first year, Mr Rane said. In five months down the line, Alembic would look at other forms of the same product, ranging from sachets to a loose sugar-like form.

Given the company's focus on the over-the-counter (OTC) category, products in the pain and gastro-enterology are also on the anvil, he admitted.

Advertising for the product is already being aired on television and the company has an adspend of Rs 3 crore to support the launch and roll-out of the product, company officials said. Alembic will produce `Zero' at it's plant in Gujarat, but will subsequently shift the production to it's plant in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, Mr Rane told Business Line. In fact, the company is shifting a large part of the manufacturing of it's finished dosage form of drugs to Baddi, he added.

But production of the injectibles, penicillin and cephalosporin will continue to be from the Gujarat plant, he added. More than 50 per cent of the products for the domestic market will be made at Baddi, he said.

Further, he pointed out that Alembic had commenced its production in Baddi in October 2004 and the shifting was not because of the Government's recent directive on levying excise on the maximum retail price of medicines.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Clean chit to Marico's saffola ad

Uniform law needed to regulate multi-level marketing schemes

Strides Arcolab supply tie-up with Aussie co Mayne to include Europe

NRL launches new-look petro retail outlet

Focus on frontline brands pays off for Shaw Wallace

Alembic unveils Zero-calorie sugar substitute