Himalayan Target

The Pharma-to-FMCG Player Is Leveraging Its Herbal Equity to Gain Market Share in Other Categories. Can It Win?

- Himanshu Kakkar

It is rare to find men like Philipe Haydon in India’s corporate world. The fact that he isn’t a promoter but has still put in 37 years with a company makes him one of a kind. He started off as a medical representative and moved up over three decades to become the company’s CEO in 2007. Go deeper and you will discover that within the pharma-to-FMCG herbal company, longevity isn’t the exception; it’s rather the rule. “Barring personal care, all other division heads are people who have spent decades in Himalaya. The biggest advantage is that there is no change in vision or value system,” says Haydon.

The founder family and also chairman Meraj Manal is known to believe that continuity brings progress. And, the company’s progress hasn’t skipped competition’s attention. “On a monthly basis, our chairman gets one or two offers from MNCs to buy Himalaya. But it is not up for sale, it will never be. It will always remain privately held,” Haydon disappoints the prospective buyers.

Himalaya Drug Company was founded by M Manal in 1934 when he felt that converting the unfriendly powders, mixes, and herbs into tablets can help people take up Ayurveda. Later, when he validated Ayurveda with scientific research, the company also managed to convince medical practitioners to prescribe their medicines, which helped them build their credibility and improve their acceptability Haydon admits that the journey hasn’t been easy, but the legwork paid off. One of its flagship brands, Liv.52, has been a true winner and has been on India’s top 10 OTC drugs’ list for a long time.