Brand new: MuscleBlaze, Nestle, Dr. Reddy's in the spotlight

Kick out the cheats: MuscleBlaze gains 10% market share a year after launching whey protein test kits​​ ​

Indian sports nutrition company MuscleBlaze says its market share in the whey protein powder category had grown by 10 per cent in the past year after launching a test kit that allows consumers and retailers to distinguish between authentic and fake products.

Fake protein products have thrived in India as they could be 30 to 50 per cent cheaper than the authentic products, and this is taking away market shares from the authentic products.

Kaustuv Paliwal, senior vice president at MuscleBlaze, said the company had managed to increase its market shares by helping consumers identify the fake and authentic products through its protein powder test kit known as MB ProCheck.

‘Make immune care a habit’: Kirin’s LC-Plasma sales held up in spring and summer, gears up for winter launches​  

Blackmores’ parent firm Kirin says it aims to make immune care a habit among consumers and is gearing up for new launches in the winter season.

The Japanese conglomerate said in its latest financial results that revenue from LC-Plasma or IMMUSE, its flagship immune health ingredient, had grown significantly even during spring and summer this year.

This is despite the fact that these are seasons when consumers tend to take fewer precautions against infectious diseases.

Ancient grains, new formats: Nestle India puts millets at the centre of new product innovation efforts​

Nestle India has launched a variety of new products focused on millets as a key ingredient this year, in an effort to increase consumer acceptance and awareness via familiar product formats while also aligning with the Indian government’s International Year of Millets’ campaign.​

As of November 2023, Nestle India has launched several new millet-based product innovation ranges from the porridge to instant noodle categories, incorporating these into well-known brands such as Koko Krunch and MAGGI.

Nestle also revealed that the search is on for start-ups to partner with in terms of using millets in more product formats.

‘One-stop solution’: Dr. Reddy’s launches e-commerce website specialising in diabetic-friendly supplements​

India’s Dr. Reddy’s has launched a direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce website specialising in selling diabetic-friendly supplements, marking its foray into the D2C space.

The site, known as Celevida Wellness, features products from its diabetes control nutrition brand Celevida​, as well as brands from other companies, such as Diabliss​ and Unilever-backed Wellbeing Nutrition.​

The company said that the D2C platform would strengthen its presence in the nutraceutical segment, as it kept up with evolving business models.

“All-round nutrition”: Nestle launching new infant formula in Hong Kong for gut, bone, cognitive health​

Nestle has launched a new infant formula containing six human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) and two probiotic strains in Hong Kong this month.

The new product is an upgrade to the existing NAN InfiniPro range of infant formulas. It contains a proprietary blend known as Sinergity developed by Nestle.

The new product contains the HMOs 2-Fucosyllactose (2-FL), Lacto-N-tetraose (LNT), 6-Sialyllactose (6-SL), 3-Sialyllactose (3-SL), 3-Fucosyllactose (3-FL), and Difucosyllactose (DFL), as well as two probiotic strains, namely Bifidus Lactis ​CNCM I-3446 and Bifidobacterium infantis ​LMG11588.