The Hindu Business Line : Zydus Cadila plans foray into smoking cessation category

MR GANESH NAYAK, Executive Director, Zydus Cadila Ltd, with actor Perizaad Zorabian, at the re-launch of Nutralite margarine in Mumbai on Monday. — Paul Noronha

Mumbai , Nov. 20

Zydus Cadila Healthcare is planning to make a foray into the smoking cessation category through brand acquisitions.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Ganesh Nayak, Executive Director, Zydus Cadila, said, "We are looking at entering a new category by introducing smoking cessation products." Smoking cessation brands are almost negligible in the market with most brands having exited the category.

"Today, the market for smoking cessation products is almost negligible but internationally there are a host of nicotine prohibitive brands, including chewing gums," said Mr Nayak.

The Ahmedabad-based company is in talks with smaller brands and players in the Indian market who are already vending their brands at pan outlets.

With intentions of becoming a national player in this segment, the company has taken the onus of creating the smoking cessation category in the country.

He added, "We created a new category for low-calorie sweeteners with our Sugar Free brand nearly 20 years ago. Today we are looking at creating another new category with smoking cessation products." With intentions of taking over an existent Indian brand in this category, the company is also keeping its options open in terms of creating its own brand in this area.

Added Mr Anand G. Deo, Senior Vice-President, Zydus Cadila, "We are looking for brands which are less than Rs 2 crore in the smoking cessation category. These would be created on the medical platform and would have to be medically tested and verified before we acquire them."

Nutralite margarine

Having acquired the Nutralite brand for Rs 30 crore early this year, the pharma company is planning to beef up its basket of healthcare brands. Having re-launched the Nutralite brand, it has decided to do away with its butter and cheese offerings and restrict it as a margarine brand.

The Rs 60-crore margarine category is currently dominated by the Nutralite brand, followed by others such as Marie Gold, Delicious and Amul Lite. Zydus Cadila has already appointed Mudra in Ahmedabad to handle its Nutralite brand with an ad budget of Rs 5 crore.

"We intend making Nutralite a Rs 100-crore brand within two years," Mr Nayak said.

In spite of exiting the cheese category for Nutralite, it has decided to re-introduce a new low-fat cheese brand under the brand Derilicious, to keep up its commitment as a `health care' oriented company.

The Rs 120-crore consumer division of Zydus Cadila Healthcare expects to double its turnover in the next three years.

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