The GLP-1 and active nutrition category, in particular, can be further segmented into three sub-groups: products for GLP-1 users, GLP-1 adjacent products, and products for post-GLP-1 users
Recent reports noted that despite the availability of low-cost generic GLP-1 medications in India, demand did not hit initial expectations and seems to be slowing down
Bloomberg reported on July 8 that the monthly sales of GLP-1 drugs in India grew 2.3% in June, nearly six times lower than the growth rate of 12.1% in May and 58.4% in April, citing data from market research firm Pharmarack
Since the semaglutide patent expired in India in March this year, generic products have quickly entered the market and some are priced at INR1,290 per month – 90% lower than the branded Wegovy
“People have been assuming, thinking that the inflexion point has arrived for the GLP-1 sector in India,” said Vijayaraghavan Venugopal, co-founder at Fast&Up. “We still do not know which way, in terms of actual percentages, this trend is going…I think beyond the GLP-1 is what attracts nutrition brands.”
Vijayaraghavan was speaking on the topic “India’s active lifestyle nutrition: Opportunities from sports to GLP-1 users” on the second day of the summit held in Singapore
As a sports nutrition company known for effervescent tablets, the company believes that there are opportunities for meeting the nutritional needs of not only GLP-1 users, but also post-users and individuals who would like to enjoy the benefits of GLP-1 without taking the medication, also known as GLP-1 adjacent users
“The way we are seeing it is that GLP-1 is a scenario that will happen that we cannot predict; whatever happens will happen and we are trying to see if we can build products around it,” he said during the Q&A session following his presentation
For GLP-1 users, one way is to augment and supplement their protein and micronutrients. For GLP-1 adjacent users, there is the opportunity to build products that mimic or act like GLP-1
When it comes to the question of who the Indian active nutrition consumers are, the GLP-1 users are only one-fifth of the equation
They fall under the group that Vijayaraghavan calls “the metabolic manager” and also consist of individuals who are keen on managing their blood sugar level and weight. These are outcome-driven individuals
In fact, active metabolic health is a vast but untapped category in India
The diabetic population alone is about 90 million in India and even higher is the pre-diabetic population at 136 million. Hypertension is also prevalent, with 207 million diagnosed
For the active metabolic consumer, managing weight, muscle mass, insulin sensitivity and inflammation through nutrition will be key, said Vijayaraghavan
“We know that Indians tend to develop metabolic risk much earlier than the Western world. In other words, more Indians are getting into a metabolic risk situation earlier and there is a longer phase for active nutrition brands to manage this. This is also exactly where I think a lot of companies and brands are actively participating,” he said
According to a study published in Diabetologiain March 2022, Asian Indians have a higher risk of type 2 diabetes compared with white Europeans, as well as a younger age of onset
For instance, the prevalence of young-onset diabetes with normal body mass index (BMI) was 9.3% amongst white Europeans but nearly three to five times higher at 24–39% amongst Asian Indians. Researchers have attributed this to a lower genetically determined beta cell function
Aside from the “the metabolic manager”, “the longevity seeker” is another emerging group of active nutrition consumer in India
Vijayaraghavan said that these are usually individuals between 45 and 65 and are active by choice. They are motivated by having a higher quality of life, tend to earn higher incomes, but these individuals are deeply underserved in India
The other three groups of active nutrition consumers in India are “the goal chaser”, “the committed regular” and “the aspiring discoverer”
Out of the three, “the goal chasers” refer to performance athletes who are well-educated about functional ingredients and are the highest spenders among the five groups of active nutrition consumers
On the other hand, “the committed regular” tend to exercise three to four times per week, are label-aware and lifestyle driven, while “the aspiring discoverer” are social media savvy and tend to seek solutions for energy, immunity, hair, and skin health
Across India, structured fitness events like HYROX and marathons are quickly gaining traction
For instance, over 69,000 participants have joined the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2026 and there are now more than 10,000 HYROX registered athletes in India since its launch in 2023, said Vijayaraghavan
“This shows that events are going to be ‘commitment devices’ [for nutrition uptake]. When people sign up for these, what they want is to improve their health and if you want to improve your health, they will look at nutrition and supplementation,“ he said. ”The potential of every participant getting into this space is an opportunity for the supplement brands.”
