Sports nutrition is still at a nascent stage in India : Vijayaraghavan Venugopal – ETHealthworld.com

Shahid Akhter, editor, ETHealthworld, spoke to Vijayaraghavan Venugopal, CEO of Aeronutrix Sports Products Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai to know about the market and trends in sports nutrition in India.

Sports Nutrition Millennial Lifestyle:
In India and across the world, predominantly whey protein and some form of sports drink like glucose water has been the prevalent form of nutrition. Today as we evolve, there are different forms of nutrition that are helping the athletes perform better every day and this is the way sports nutrition will evolve.

Today millennials are much more at the forefront of knowledge because they have access to a lot more things as compared to what people had 20 years back, which is also important when it comes to nutrition, because today they are well read and want to take care of their bodies. So relevant nutrition is something which millennials today are very much interested in.

Sports Nutrition Trends:
Previously, there was a limitation to one or two segments of products, but today all over the world people are researching as to what specific ingredients can do to your body and how that can help you perform better. For example, if you are a long distance runner, you need more endurance and stamina where specific ingredients are being developed across the world in the right format, and India is not lagging behind. Indian companies are also investing in the right kind of products that can help Indian athletes perform better in times to come.

Sports Nutrition Market:
Globally, sports nutrition is roughly around 20 to 25 billion dollars and it is still at a nascent stage in India. We are still at around 1 to 1.5 billion dollars in terms of sports nutrition but when it comes to general wellness and dietary supplements, we should be around 3 to 5 billion dollars.

The significant thing today is that even in India you have close to around 80 to 90 million dollars’ worth of products being marketed in the fitness industry and this has been tremendous growth in the last 10 years. Nutrition will play a role in that as we proceed, it is growing at around 15 to 20 percent which is good for everyone who is into this segment.

Fast&Up journey so far:
Fast&Up is originally a Swiss brand. It was started around 2008, out of Switzerland with a strong focused on sports nutrition. In India, we started in 2015. We have been pioneers in terms of some the new products which have come into the country. For example, if you look at the products, we have brought in a technology called ‘Effervescent Nutrition’, where we have tablets that dissolve in water in no time giving you all the required nutrition that you want.

Today Fast&Up has around 10 to 12 products with different flavors and SKUs. We brought products in India right from pre and post workouts, electrolytes to general nutrition like a multivitamin, Vitamin C, or Calcium which are very essential in today’s world to live a very active life. As a company, we are committed to developing more new products for the country as and when required.

Vijayaraghavan’s shift from Lupin to Aeronutrix:
It is a very interesting question because a large part of my career I have been in the health care world. I have been fascinated with sports since I was a child having played different sports. So when an opportunity came to do something in the area of healthcare, sports and building the business, there was no better opportunity than building a business like Fast&Up, which is a purely B2C brand. A consumer brand where you are touching the lives of each individual in a positive way, so when the opportunity came there was no looking back, we truly enjoyed this stint of building the company and brand from zero to where it is today and hopefully the progress will go on from here to making it bigger.

Fast&Up Official Energy Drink Partner:
One of the clear segments which we wanted to focus on when we started was running. A lot of people who are pursuing sports at a very amateur level are taking up to running in a big way. It also involves the entire family in India today. In India, if there is a runner in the family his entire family is involved in running.

From day one, Fast&Up had a big connection to the running community and today, there are big road racers in the country that are changing the way Indians look at running.

There are 4 events- Tata Mumbai Marathon, Airtel Delhi Half Marathon, Calcutta 25k and the 10k which happens in Bangalore. To be associated with these premier events was a goal for Fast&Up right from day one. It was a fantastic way of associating with runners in the country.

Fast&Up- Sports and wellness nutrition:
As the journey moves, there are three pillars that are very strong and important for us. One is the products, we will continue to build good and relevant products for the Indian consumer at a very competitive offering to the consumer.

The third is by channels of distribution, channels that can reach out to the people be it new technology, retail, or any other way you can reach out to the right population. These are the three areas where we will continue to build as we go up.

Fast&Up- Future Plans:
The wellness space in India is continuing to grow, and there has been immense interest among the stakeholders as we continue to build the brand. We are getting into the orbit which is going to take us to almost 5000 to 10,000 stores across the country by the end of the year. We are trying to get into the general retail trade apart from what we have done from the online space and the institutional space.

We want to do more with the protein community in the country. We want to participate more with the Indian stakeholders as far as the events such as the Olympics, and Commonwealth Games are concerned. We also want to play a role by which Fast&Up becomes an integral part of every Indian consumer from a day to day perspective, even if you are at work, the gym or out cycling from one place to another. We want Fast&Up to be one brand which is closely associated with the way you are going to live your life day in and day out.