Contract Manufacturing Fulfilling the Demand for Nutraceuticals

Abhrasnata Das

The rising impulse of the global population towards a healthy lifestyle might have been the silver lining of the pandemic. As the form of human living evolves, new trends, activities, and consumption patterns are dethroning the past setups, with nutraceuticals at the center of all.

Undoubtedly, nutraceuticals' health-promoting and disease-preventing characteristics have made them a fundamental component of urban life. According to reports, the global nutraceutical market has recorded exponential growth and is expected to hit USD 991.09 billion by 2030.

In India, the pictures are no different than the globe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the domestic market for nutritional supplements experienced a massive leap from the expected trends of 10% to over 26%, settling at 16–18% since late 2021 and outpacing global industrial growth.

The Rise

With a developing ecosystem, the Indian nutraceutical market is now witnessing a growing prevalence of startups. Presently, more than 4000 listed startups operate in the domestic nutraceutical market, transforming India into a critical and highly competitive market.

Rising competition matched with the growing demand of the customers is leaving zero room for error; thereby pushing companies to opt for contract manufacturers to procure trusted and reliable herbal goods, leaving space to solely focus on marketing the products under their brand labels.

Although not new, contract manufacturing has evolved as a trending concept in the nutraceutical market of India. Owing to the advantages like — reduced costs, consistent and higher quality products, scalability, and accuracy; third-party manufacturing has been key in boosting the nutraceutical ecosystem in India.

The increasing dependency of Indian brands on contract manufacturing firms is paving the way for new innovations, that will play a major role in elevating operational efficiency in the coming days.

A Turkey Transition

With increasing market competition, the demand for turnkey solutions has taken a robust shape. Starting from ideation to production, the brand demands end-to-end assistance, which is now met by third-party manufacturers.

Owing to the bridging capability, manufacturers are able to offer their customers cutting-edge products while also confirming, testing, and giving them a thorough understanding of the entire production process.

When used in conjunction with the necessary infrastructure to conduct feasibility studies, contract manufacturers can validate new discoveries and determine whether they can be successfully manufactured.

For instance, Saipro, an India-based nutraceutical products contract manufacturing firm is providing a comprehensive solution. The company now provides turnkey services that involve everything from product development to commercial manufacturing to packaging and dispatching of the product.

Saipro is one of many India-based companies, that has extended its service line to meet the evolving demand criteria of the clients. The turnkey solution is no longer an alternative but a stagnant and rising trend in the industry today.

The Green-Revolution

Climate change is currently a big concern. Manufacturing is responsible for about one-third of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Because of this, companies are revising their operational plans and converting to low- or carbon-emitting industrial processes.

With a shift to sustainable practices and the quest for carbon-neutral operations, environmental challenges have become more and more significant. Additionally, producers should anticipate increased customer demand for eco-friendly products. The nutraceutical sector as
a whole is aiming to set the standard on this front.

Today, global consumers are conscious are also concerned about the outlook of companies in regard to carbon neutrality and sustainability. A survey conducted by the Carbon Trust found that more than 67 percent of the total respondents support carbon labeling on the product. Moreover, 64% of participants opined that they were more inclined to have a favorable opinion of a company if it could demonstrate that its products had a lesser carbon impact.

The nutraceutical contract manufacturers are of course no exception and are adopting green practices. Uelzena, a contract manufacturing entity has reduced its emission by 50 percent by 2012.

Turn Towards Automation

Nutraceutical contract manufacturing firms along with agriculture and food manufacturing entities are now investing more capital in innovative technology. The agricultural robotics industry is predicted to reach a value of $6.7 billion by 2032, indicating that automation is expanding.

Due to post-pandemic global developments, agricultural manufacturing has seen a growing manpower shortage. As a result, organizations are turning to automation to handle tasks like sowing and harvesting.

According to Forbes, this trend will continue through 2023 as automation is widely used to help firms cut expenses, improve productivity, and boost total revenues.

Technological intervention is now a major talk point in the nutraceutical industry. According to Sanjay Mariwala, Executive Chairman of Omniactive Health Technologies, “Brands will need to create innovative products and for that, they need supply chain partners who can creatively use science and technology to craft such products, that are efficacious and deliver the value desired.”

Looking forward

Contract manufacturing is the fastest-growing trend in the nutraceutical industry. In the coming days, the contract manufacturing segment is expected to play a decisive role in India’s journey to evolve as a global leader.

With rising demand from contract manufacturers, the players are now needed to set a proactive outlook and embrace change to provide the most advanced solution to the clients.

With a rapid technology intervention in the manufacturing segment, the Indian nutraceutical contract manufacturers are required to be in the front, leading the way to transform the nation into a global hub of nutraceuticla products.