– Company to roll out chain of Ayurvedic clinics across the nation; to invest more than Rs. 10 crores by 2009 –
New Delhi, September 13, 2007: Banking on the splurge that the alternative medicine industry is witnessing and the ongoing retail boom in the country, Goodcare Pharma, is planning to roll out series ayurvedic clinics across the country in the coming years. The company is in talks with the leading real-estate/malls developers to set shops and aims to set up 50 such outlets by 2009 investing more than Rs. 10 crores for its expansion. The ayurvedic clinics, apart from offering consultation services, will also offer ayurvedic drugs and over-the-counter (OTC) formulations.
The decision is largely based to tap the younger generation and Goodcare, as part of its strategy to target youth, is charting out plans to enter the retail space in a big way. “While youth are a large target segment for us, we feel that inertia often prevents converting interest into purchase. We hence as part of our strategy aim to be present at high traffic malls to increase brand visibility. This also allows us to create a brand world at our retail spaces through touch and feel factors; as communicating the benefits of Ayurveda, in a context where consumers are receptive to brand messages, becomes extremely important,” says Ms. Tania Sharma, Director, Goodcare Pharma & a Director on the board of Sri Baidyanath Ayurved Bhawan Pvt. Ltd.
The judgment seems to be in sync as long working hours, eating out, stress, lack of exercise, and the mounting social pressures are increasingly taking toll on the youth. Given the severity of the problem, research has shown that many youngsters are being forced into seeking all kinds of remedies and strangely enough, a large section of the youth are now going back to remedies that have been long forgotten – Ayurveda.
Given this trend, which is matched also by a global trend in developed countries toward ayurveda; many manufacturers are becoming extremely serious about their presence in this market. The company has earlier launched a range of products in its stable and it markets life style solution products like Stress Guard, Neem Guard, Gas Guard, ConstiGuard, Spirulina Plus, Hazamcare etc.
It is estimated that the total value of products from the entire ayurvedic production in India is on the order of one billion dollars (U.S.). The Indian Planning Commission estimates massive potential increases in this export volume, to Rs. 100 billion by 2010.
