Challenges and opportunities in Herbal Business

Challenges and opportunities in Herbal Business

Herbal Business 

India is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of biodiversity, has 15 agro-climatic zones. Out of the 16000-17000 species of flowering plants, more than 8000 are estimated to have medicinal usage in treatments like Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha & Homoeopathy.

The herbal market is registering extremely significant growth. The world herbal trade has grown to $120 billion and is expected to reach $7 trillion by 2050. India is stated to have 45,000 plant species (nearly 20% of the global species) occurs in the Indian sub-continent. Out of these, about 4,500 species of both higher and lower plant groups are of medicinal value. The states which are a major producer of herbal plants having the highest medicinal value include Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. 

The Indian Medicinal and Nutraceutical Market are witnessing growth, as there has been a shift in the universal trend from synthetic to herbal. Medicinal Plants are highly esteemed all over the world as a rich source of therapeutic agents for the prevention of diseases and ailments. Owing to its wide range of medicinal uses, the Indian Medicinal Plant Extract market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 15-20% during 2019 - 2025. As a result of increased investments as well as significant demand for medicinal extract in international markets, there lies the immense opportunity for new and existing players to tap the fast-growing market which would garner huge revenue.

Global Herbal Medicine and nutraceutical Market : 

Asia Pacific countries such as China followed by India accounts for the maximum market share due to its tradition of using the herbal system. Europe is the second-largest market due to large disposable income and growing demand for natural therapies and remedies. The European market will be led by France followed by Germany. Asia pacific region will be the fastest region because of which will be led by China and India. The Middle East and Africa market will be led by the gulf nations particularly Saudi Arabia and UAE. The poor regions of Africa are expected to be a laggard due to poor economic and political conditions.

Key Players:

Himalaya Drug Company (India), Schwabe (Germany), Madaus (Spain), Arkopharman (France), Blackmores (Australia), Sami Labs Ltd, ( India ) Sabinsa Corporation ( US) Tsumura (Japan), Vidya Herbs Pvt Ltd ( India ), Sheng Chang Pharmaceutical Company (Taiwan), Natural Remedies (p) Ltd ( India ) Ricola AG (Switzerland), Zandu Pharmaceutical Works Ltd (India), Hamdard Laboratories (India), Dabur (India), Patanjali Ayurved Ltd (India) China Herbs Company (U.S.), Nutraceutical International Corporation (U.S.), are some of the prominent players at the forefront of competition in the Global Herbal Medicine and Nutraceutical market.

Challenges 

India’s share in the global export of herbs and herbal

products can be reduced due to the following reasons:

i. Inadequate Agricultural practices.

ii. Inadequate Quality Control procedure.

iii. Lack of large scale Organic Cultivation.

iv. Lack of Processing and R&D.

v. Lack of Standardization in Products, Processes and Services.

vi. Lack of regulatory framework in the trade of Medicinal Plants.

However, the year of 2019-2021 will be the year for Nutrition, Ingredients, Nutraceuticals, Organic Suppliers. As drug companies are seeing their profit shrinks, they are turning to supplementation of nutraceuticals, which in turn are benefiting the herbal industry