Direct selling consumer goods company Amway’s new manufacturing facility in Madurai will go on stream in the third quarter of this financial year. “The facility is coming up fast, and we hope to start trial production next month,” said Anshu Budhraja, General Manager, Amway India.

This is Amway’s third manufacturing facility outside the US, after China and Vietnam.

The company signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tamil Nadu Government in November 2012 to invest ₹300 crore in a new facility on a 50-acre plot acquired from SIPCOT (State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu) at Nilakottai, near Madurai.

More production lines

Last year, it decided to add a few more production lines and increased its investment to ₹550 crore. Now, it will have nine production lines for nutrition, cosmetics and oral-care products.

“With this additional facility, we hope to make this plant a regional export base as well as an R&D (research and development) hub,” Budhraja said. Built by Shapoorji Pallonji Construction, it will also have a roof-top solar plant that will take care of a fifth of the facility’s power requirement. Once operations go on stream, it will employ 500 people. “We have so far recruited 250 people, the majority of which are from in and around the district,” Budhraja said.

Plant-based protein powder

Budhraja was here to launch ‘Nutrilite’, a plant-based protein powder extracted from soy, wheat and yellow pea. The product is currently available in 55 markets around the world.

“Our earlier product was from soy and milk. But, as our study indicated that many consumers are lactose-intolerant, we shifted to this product,” explained Sam Rehnborg, President, Nutrilite Health Institute.

As of now, Amway India’s nutrition and dietary supplements under the Nutrilite brand account for more than 50 per cent of the company’s total turnover of ₹2,045 crore.

“This segment is well-poised to grow faster, as an increasing number of consumers are aware of their protein and vitamin deficiencies,” Rehnborg added.

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