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Bayer Consumer Health to develop digital to grow in Indian market
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Gireesh Babu, New Delhi
October 11 , 2025
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Bayer Consumer Health division, a part of German life sciences major Bayer, is looking at developing its digital ecosystem to enhance consumer engagement, e-commerce capabilities, and data-driven insights, apart from bringing in innovative science-backed solutions to address health challenges, in order to achieve its goal of reaching 100 million households in India.
The potential of digital ecosystem has encouraged it to adopt an online-first strategy for its recent launches like Supradyn Ginseng and Supradyn Iron, some of the latest additions to its multivitamin brand Supradyn, said Sandeep Verma, head of Bayer's Consumer Health Business in South Asia.
"At Bayer Consumer Health, we view digital transformation as a key enabler to making self-care more accessible. This is through consumer literacy where we help make consumers aware of common health challenges through credible and reliable information. Online channels also help make our products available widely. This has especially been so since the pandemic where consumers have shifted towards e-commerce," he said.
The digital ecosystem allows the company to test consumer response before scaling offline. E-commerce offers agility, allows to test consumer response quickly, make fast iterations, and accordingly invest in offline distribution. The company opines that India’s vibrant e-commerce and quick ecosystem enable this approach, making digital its first port of call for innovation. India's rapidly growing internet penetration and digital adoption is an enabler.
"We plan to leverage digital transformation by further investing in our digital ecosystem to enhance consumer engagement, e-commerce capabilities, and data-driven insights," said Verma on future plans in the country.
"Looking ahead we will continue to advocate for responsible self-care. We will aggressively innovate and introduce science backed solutions which are specifically designed to address everyday health challenges for Indian consumers," he added.
Through this Bayer’s Consumer Health division remains committed to the goal of reaching 100 million households in India, ensuring better everyday health for all, he averred.
India’s consumer health market is experiencing remarkable growth. It is valued at Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 45,000 crore, growing 6 - 7% annually, with expectations to accelerate to 8 - 10% over the next 4 - 5 years.
This upward trajectory is fuelled by a confluence of factors: increasing consumer awareness regarding personal health, rising disposable incomes, the growing prevalence of lifestyle diseases, and supportive government initiatives promoting health and wellness.
However, challenges persist, including navigating evolving regulatory policies, ensuring affordability and accessibility across diverse socio-economic segments, and effectively educating a varied population on complex nutritional science.
The intense competitive landscape also necessitates continuous innovation and strong brand differentiation. Penetration remains a critical challenge as multivitamin usage is only 12 - 15% in urban India and less than 5% in rural areas, making awareness-building and affordability key focus areas, he added.
Bayer’s Consumer Health global portfolio spans over 150 trusted brands across over 120 countries. In India, our presence is in the categories of nutrition, pain management, anti-allergy and dermatology. The Consumer Health Division in India was set up in 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the objective of making science backed self-care accessible to all individuals across the nation. This includes educating consumers about responsible self-care and improving access to those OTC products that have a long history of safety and efficacy.
"For the first few years, we focused on consolidating core brands like Saridon, Supradyn, Canesten and Alaspan. Since last year, we have also activated our innovation engine and also launched global brands like Bepanthen into India. Importantly, we’re 100% Make in India—all innovations are developed and manufactured in India for Indian consumers," added Verma.
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