In a survey, Abott India, the global healthcare and research company, has found that around 98 percent of the 50 years- plus Indian parents living in metros have unfulfilled dreams due to lack of strength.Therefore the company is pushing its ‘Ensure nutrition supplement’ to help parents sustain their health and have a better quality life to fulfill their dreams. Also the company has launched specialised nutrition supplements to address different needs in cases like cancer, diabetes, dialysis and malnutrition. Hence, while campaigning Ensure recently during an event in Mumbai, Amal Kelshikar, Country Head & General Manager, Abbott’s nutrition business spoke to Wellessindia.com
What are the findings of your survey that led you to push Ensure in the market?
In 2015, we did the survey among our core consumers in the nutrition space. With the survey we thought lets also look at the ecosystem and the great Indian family, because it’s just not about young and elder individuals, but is also about family as a whole as they take active participation in everyone’s health decisions. Survey reveals that 98 percent of 50 years plus Indian parents living in Indian metros have unfulfilled dreams. Nearly 97 percent agreed that improved strength would allow them to realize their dreams and have a better quality life. We have also done a similar campaign in other Asia Pacific Markets and we thought it’s very relevant.
When we look at the lifeline and everything that is happening in our environment, it’s really about children’s dreams and aspirations fulfilled by the parents. Then the intrigue question that stroked us was do parents have aspirations and dreams beyond what we obviously know? Around 93 percent parents are saying children’s dream is part of their dream and success. But, do they have other aspirations in this changing world and the result clearly came out that travel, entrepreneurship and having financials is what parents aspire for. Findings of this survey that children’s are sensitive about their parents dream too. Sometimes parent’s dreams are so simple and every parent has his/her own dreams.
As Ensure brand is there in India for many years, so why this push?
Very often in our stressful lifestyle we are not able to eat right things all the time and that is where Ensure actively balances nutrition and gives you all that you need in the form of micro nutrients. Ensure is not a meal replacement, it is just an additional supplement, a partial meal replacement which provides required nutrients.
For our body we also need other proteins like carbohydrate, right amount of good fat and not bad fat and micro nutrients which we don’t get in a regular diet. We peak our muscle mass at the age of 25 then it’s about maintenance in the middle age and then it’s about preservance, because it starts falling rapidly. If you have to get the best out of your life, you have to be healthy. And that’s why this push came that there is also need of nutrients in our society. Protein is the biggest need for our body. We need 1grm protein per kg amount of weight in a day.
What is your target consumer group?
Ensure is targeted towards children’s and parents. It is like a nutritional strength for lot of people who aspire to fulfill their dreams. There is around 8 percent muscle loss in elderly patients who are on bed in hospitals for three days and lose 1 kg muscle weight. When we looked at the consumer malnutrition, it was not about only what happens in hospital, but also it exists everywhere around us. The consciousness and awareness about malnutrition is not high. Initially, we advocated this brand for hospital usage only.
What is your other product line that addresses other stage of people?
We have diverse product portfolio which addresses all stage of people. We have Ensure which is mainstay for people above 44 plus age group. We have Ensure plus which is high level protein supplement. Also, we have many products which are very hospital based for some of the special needs like we have just launched liquid form nutrition called ready to hang.
For special diseases like cancer in which, due to weight loss people are not able to go to chemotherapy so for them we have launched specialised nutrition that help sustain weight. Then we have nutrients in nephrology for patients going through dialysis. In the area of diabetes we have a nutrient supplement which is partial meal replacement. In diabetes worst thing is the midday snack, so our products keep the energy level and gives right level of nutrient. We have focused a lot on nutrition’s in the last seven to eight years. It is really about driving awareness as people don’t know about nutrition.
What according to you are the precautions needed to be taken by elderly people?
If you are a person in the age group of 25-40, you have to eat right and exercise. Being conscious of what you eat and having a balance meal is very important. In the young age, people take health lightly and they eat whatever they want. Life is about marathon and not just about 100 meter race. You need right nutrition at every stage of life. Your need will wary, but one has to be conscious about that. The basic thing is one has to be fit, do regular medical health check-ups and consult the doctor regularly to check genetic issues.
