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COVID-19 crisis | Companies shift focus toward launching, promoting immunity-boosting products

Dabur which sells Chyawanprash and Honey reported a 400 percent surge in demand for flagship its Dabur Chyawanprash and an 80 percent growth in Dabur Honey.

June 05, 2020 / 04:52 PM IST
 
 
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The coronavirus outbreak has led to a renewed focus on staying fit and healthy. People are warming up to the idea of building immunity to avoid catching any infection.

Companies have been quick to capitalise on this trend by shifting to immunity-boosting products and supplements.

According to a report from ICICI Securities titled Consumer Sector Insights, there has been a spurt in the demand for immunity-boosting products such as Chyawanprash and honey over the last two months.

Fast&Up flagship nutrition brand of Aeronutrix Sports Products witnessed a 50 percent surge in demand of vitamin C supplement in particular by as much as ten times.

“We have also seen a spike in demand of our magnesium supplement and energy health drink, reload,” said Varun Khanna, CMO & Co-Founder of Fast&Up.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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Wagh Bakri Tea is promoting green tea claiming that green tea helps in boosting immunity.

A report by Mavericks India titled ‘Rebooting 2020: A Story of Covid-19, and Shifting Perceptions survey by reputation management advisory,’ stated that 63 percent of 600 respondents surveyed said they are committed to leading a healthier lifestyle with a special focus on physical fitness and building better immunity. 

Sensing the demand for immunity boosting products during pandemic ITC and direct selling major Amway entered into a strategic partnership to jointly distribute a range of products in the health and immunity-boosting space.

As part of this, ITC last introduced 'B Natural+' range of fruit juices.

“In the next few months, more such products would be jointly introduced by the companies in the market,” said Hemant Malik, Divisional Chief Executive (Foods Division) at ITC.

The new 'B Natural+' range of beverages, which ITC claims it to have clinically proven ingredient to support immunity, will be available in two variants – Orange and Mixed Fruit.

Dabur which sells Chyawanprash and Honey reported a 400 percent surge in demand for flagship its Dabur Chyawanprash and an 80 percent growth in Dabur Honey. The company has also strengthened its immunity-boosting portfolio with the launch of new products.

Hamdard Laboratories (Medicine Division) has also been promoting immunity products through digital advertisements.

“As a brand, we wanted to say in times like this boosting one’s immunity is the first step of prevention besides all the precautions we are being told to take, to stay safe,” said Suman Varma, Chief Marketing Office, Hamdard Laboratories (Medicine Division).

Hamdard offers a wide range of products such as Joshina, Joshanda, Imyoton and Chyawanprash made out of herbs proving to be effective immunity boosters.

 Google India report, What is India searching for: Insights for Brand highlights, report showed a huge jump, of 500 percent for searches related to health and healthy products, particular for the once that supposedly boost immunity. 

The searches for vitamin C were up over 150 percent along with searches for herbs such as Giloy and Kadha that are known to boost the immunity.

Himadri Buch
Himadri Buch
first published: Jun 5, 2020 04:42 pm

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