GSK to invest Rs 300 crore in Horlicks relaunch

NEW DELHI: Packaged consumer goods company GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSKCH) on Monday said it would invest over Rs 300 crore on repositioning original milk food drink Horlicks as the company’s umbrella brand. Apart from relaunching Horlicks with a new look and promoting the brand across media, including the digital and mobile marketing space, GSK is also looking at foraying into other categories like breakfast and mid-day meals.

Shubhajit Sen, E-VP (marketing) at GSK, told reporters that the company plans to achieve sales of Rs 300 crore over the next 18-24 months from its foods business.

Recent category extensions of Horlicks, estimated to be a Rs 1,500-crore-plus brand, include biscuits, cereal bars and instant noodles.

Mr Sen said Horlicks’ Foodles instant noodles brand has been able to capture 5% share within six months of launch. “We would want one-fourth of our sales to come from new launches. The current share is close to 20%,” he said. The 110-year-old health drink Horlicks has 51% share in the health-drinks category and along with Boost gives GSK control of over two-thirds market share. “There is a fundamental shift towards synergising all our marketing activities on Horlicks and bringing it under one platform across categories,” Mr Sen added.