Maggi noodles to chyawanprash: What India has been spending on in pandemic

Consumers around the world are showing an increased interest in safeguarding their health and boosting their immunity

Consumers around the world are showing an increased interest in safeguarding their health and boosting their immunity. In India, that often means ayurveda, the country’s ancient system of medicine. Companies such as Dabur India Ltd. and The Himalaya Drug Co. are witnessing high demand for traditional products like chyawanprash (a cooked mixture containing honey, sugar, ghee, herbs and spices) and proprietary supplements like Septilin, which combines ayurvedic ingredients including licorice and guduchi.

Here are a few of the products shoppers in the world’s biggest open consumer market have been stocking up on.

Consumers around the world are showing an increased interest in safeguarding their health and boosting their immunity. In India, that often means ayurveda, the country’s ancient system of medicine. Companies such as Dabur India Ltd. and The Himalaya Drug Co. are witnessing high demand for traditional products like chyawanprash (a cooked mixture containing honey, sugar, ghee, herbs and spices) and proprietary supplements like Septilin, which combines ayurvedic ingredients including licorice and guduchi.

Immunity Boosters

Chyawanprash sales across the industry grew 283% in June and branded honey rose 39%, according to Nielsen Holdings Plc. Dabur, one of India’s largest ayurvedic products suppliers, said its chyawanprash sales surged 700% from April to June. The surge in spending is likely to last well beyond the next few months, according to Sameer Shukla, west market leader at Nielsen South Asia. “We saw very clear trends in terms of consumer ask — people would like to spend more on immunity boosters, health hygiene and stuff like that,” Shukla said. “This kind of ask is not a short-term one.”